Bruce Stiftel
@brucestiftel.bsky.social
Environmental planning and international development theorist at Georgia Tech [USA] #planningsky
"The world post 1.5°C is a world our civilization has never lived in. We know it’s going to be a world of irreversible loss, it’s going to be a world in which we see an increase in the intensity, frequency and duration of extreme events..." rioonwatch.org?p=83765
In the Context of Climate Overshoot, ‘Cities Are the Crucible and Fire That Drive the Change We Need, and That Change Will be Realized Through Housing,’ Says IPCC Coordinating Lead Author – RioOnWatch
rioonwatch.org
"Atlanta City Council is directing city departments to beef up efforts to protect residents from the growing threat of extreme heat after the city recently faced withering critiques from homeless services groups for its response to a recent heatwave." www.ajc.com/news/2026/08...
Under fire, City Council tells mayor’s office to craft extreme heat plan
City Council unanimously passed the resolution Monday, which calls on Mayor Andre Dickens' office and other city departments to craft a multi-pronged heat safety plan.
ajc.com
"Over the past two months, the United States has made financial commitments that hint at a limited return to global health and humanitarian assistance partnerships, after the abrupt severing of many of those relationships a year and a half ago." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/h...
U.S. Restores Some Vaccine and Health Aid to Unicef, Gavi and World Food Programme (Gift Article)
The amount is still far below what the U.S. spent previously on humanitarian and health aid, but resumes the flow of money for key efforts to fight malnutrition and disease.
nytimes.com
Over the past two months, the U.S. has made financial commitments that hint at a limited return to global health and humanitarian assistance partnerships, after the abrupt severing of many of those relationships a year and a half ago.
U.S. Restores Some Vaccine and Health Aid to Unicef, Gavi and World Food Programme
The amount is still far below what the U.S. spent previously on humanitarian and health aid, but resumes the flow of money for key efforts to fight malnutrition and disease.
nyti.ms
"Leaders in several cities are calling for drive-through crackdowns, arguing that they threaten the modern California Dream of clean air, safe streets and walkable communities." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
How a Culver City In-N-Out Ignited a Drive-Through Debate (Gift Article)
The state gave rise to fast-food culture decades ago, but some cities are spurning drive-throughs because of the environmental and aesthetic impacts.
nytimes.com
LISTEN: Is the American dream fading for international students? Our reporters discuss here ⤵️
Live Q&A: Is the American Dream Fading for International Students?
Bloomberg reporters take your questions on how and why the American dream is fading for students globally on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 2 p.m. HKT.
bloom.bg
Where is the least liveable city in the world? One region’s score has taken a bigger fall than any other, according to the EIU’s annual index. Find out here
The world’s most, and least, liveable cities in 2026
See how 173 cities compare in EIU’s annual ranking
bit.ly
Memories of the 1st World Planning Schools Congress, 25 years ago in Shanghai at Tongji Uni, where the Shanghai Statement set the course for the @gpean-planning.bsky.social, now working in behalf of eleven planning school associations worldwide.
“The way I’d put it,” the auto journalist Martin Padgett told me recently, “is that we pulled a U-turn while the rest of the world was pushing forward…. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/m... #USAutoIndustry #EVS
The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It? (Gift Article)
The largest U.S. automakers have backed away from electric vehicles, even as global sales are booming. The decision may make them obsolete.
nytimes.com
"In joining the list, the Okefenokee gives Georgia its first World Heritage destination and the U.S. its 27th site to make the cut. It’s also the first natural site in the U.S. to be added to the list in more than 30 years." www.ajc.com/news/2026/07... #UNESCO #OkefenokeeSwamp
Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp is now a UNESCO World Heritage site
The Okefenokee is the first natural site in the U.S. to be added to the World Heritage List in more than 30 years.
ajc.com
"540 of the 643 units are listed on short-term rental booking sites such as Airbnb and VRBO despite the fact that the building does not have the city permit required to operate as a condo-hotel." www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
Condo residents furious after Miami inspectors nix visit; city says hands tied
“I could enlist more action from a beached whale than city leaders and department heads. Our entrapment in this madhouse has hit a nerve with people all over Miami.”
miamiherald.com
US policies WRT Canada are hurting us and will hurt us more. x.com/HelloStephan...
Stephano🍁Barberis (@HelloStephano) on X
This is a great watch:
x.com
With Atlantans stranded in NE airports due to weather disruptions, news of possible new rail service from Atlanta is welcome. Rail service is virtually weather-proof, more accommodating to disabled travelers, and often quicker downtown to downtown. saportareport.com/return-to-it...
Return to its Terminus roots? Here’s the status of federal rail projects that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the state and Southeast - SaportaReport
Read Return to its Terminus roots? Here’s the status of federal rail projects that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the state and Southeast by Mark Lannaman for SaportaReport here.
saportareport.com
Congratulations to Genie Birch of @upenn.edu, recipient of the Sir Peter Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement in Planning History, presented yesterday at the International Planning History Society conference in Atlanta.
"The city has invested in a range of traffic-calming measures, including more speed bumps, more visible crosswalks, better bike lanes and new bus stops." #VisionZero www.governing.com/infrastructu...
This New England City Hasn't Had a Traffic Death in Three Years
Somerville, Mass., officials say their success is rooted in tried-and-true best practices for traffic safety.
governing.com
#14Juillet Aux ami.e.s Français.es : Bonne fête nationale! 🙏😊
Bon 14 Juillet Fête Nationale
ALT: Bon 14 Juillet Fête Nationale
static.klipy.com
"[G]rade inflation is as bad as they say, and it drains students’ transcripts of meaning, deprives professors of agency and turns schools into approval factories. We should be ashamed, and we should fix it." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/o...
Opinion | I Teach at an Elite College and I Inflate Grades. Help Me. (Gift Article)
Easy A’s are an easy out.
nytimes.com
"The most liveable city in the world this year? Copenhagen.... Vienna and Melbourne are close runners-up. Vancouver (9th) is the only city in North America to reach the top ten; Tokyo (10th) is the only megacity to make the cut. www.economist.com/graphic-deta...
The world’s most, and least, liveable cities in 2026
See how 173 cities compare in EIU’s annual ranking
economist.com
The Republican Party 4 months before midterms: "You're not getting affordable housing unless you give up your voting rights" Great message.
The striking architecture of Aalto University University of Helsinki University of Tampere and the cities of southern Finland created a stunning backdrop for World Planning Schools Congress 2026 #wpsc2026 Credit to original photographers.
Fresh cuts to the Strategic Priorities Grant are of grave concern for our disciplines. In history-based subjects like archaeology, trends in university provision indicate large emerging cold spots - where courses are shrinking or disappearing in some regions. 🧵1/2
My remarks on receiving GPEAN - Global Planning Education Association Network's inaugural Distinguished Service Award at the 6th World Planning Schools Congress 2026, 2 July 2026: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S32T...
Bruce Stiftel GPEAN Distinguished Service Award remarks
YouTube video by Bruce Stiftel
youtube.com
My remarks on receiving GPEAN - Global Planning Education Association Network's inaugural Distinguished Service Award at the 6th World Planning Schools Congress 2026, 2 July 2026: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S32T...
Bruce Stiftel GPEAN Distinguished Service Award remarks
YouTube video by Bruce Stiftel
youtube.com
At the World Planning Schools Congress 2026, Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) presented the inaugural #GPEAN Distinguished Service Award to @brucestiftel.bsky.social ACSP and @gatech-globedev.bsky.social
"Walking away from USAID is, on top of being cruel, just incredibly dumb. It's literally like having the best brand name and saying, let's invent a new brand name, even though this is the most popular, most beloved, most respected arm ..of US foreign policy in the world" www.npr.org/2026/07/03/n...
Former USAID head grieves its closure while hoping for its future
Former USAID administrator reflects on a year since USAID's shutdown and the new direction of US foreign aid.
npr.org
"Jen Benson, director of advocacy and communications at Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, disputed the claim. She said the Coast Guard did not ask for the messages to be taken down, but requested the ship leave the sailing route or risk arrest." www.reuters.com/world/us/ves...
Vessel forced out of New York ship parade over 'politically charged' banners
The U.S. Coast Guard said "politically charged" messages led to the removal of an environmental group's vessel from a fleet of sailing ships gathered in New York on Saturday to celebrate the country...
reuters.com
"Washington was beloved by many for giving away power he could have kept. Trump is reviled by many for snatching power he isn’t entitled to." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/04/o...
Opinion | Founding Father vs. Foundering Toddler
nytimes.com
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Beginning today in Espoo, Finland, on the campus of Aalto University, the World Planning Schools Congress 2026 -- 6th in the series which began in Shanghai in '01, continued in Mexico City '06, Perth, Australia '11, Rio de Janeiro '16 and Nusa Dua, Indonesia '22.
The Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) Governing Council met today at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland under leadership of chair Ayşın Dedekorkut-Howes of Griffith University and the Australia and New Zealand Association of Planning Schools (ANZAPS).
