Bruce Stiftel, chair of the School of City and Regional Planning, was recently appointed to a United Nations (U.N.) expert group set up to advise U.N.-Habitat on the content of new international guidelines for urban and territorial planning intended for adoption by UN member states at the Habitat III gathering in 2016. 

"I'm thrilled at Bruce's appointment to this panel," said Steven French, dean of the College of Architecture. “U.N.-Habitat plays a key role in influencing national policies about urban futures in many countries. Being able to project Georgia Tech expertise into their decisions will undoubtedly have a positive, real impact on cities.”  

The expert group consists of planners from member states in the U.N.’s five world regions as well as representatives of key professional associations. Their charge will be to advise UN-Habitat, which is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is a group mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.