~Barry Quirk~ gets to grips with place shaping – the process of putting an individual ‘identity stamp' on an area ‘

Place shaping' is the phrase of 2006. Local government has been, rightly, encouraged by Sir Michael Lyons to raise its eyes from the trenches of service delivery and recognise that its central role is shaping places. This is a great idea, but surely some people thought of it earlier? Isn't that what local government politicians and managers have been about for hundreds of years? Place shaping is a seductive concept that could enthral us for years.