Minecraft by Mojang: A Game That Builds Neighborhoods

Image credit: mojang.com

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Mojang is an indie game developer studio behind the games Scrolls, Cobalt, and Minecraft. Developed by Markus Persson, Minecraft is a hugely popular building block game played by millions of people. Last year, it was used as the foundation of the Mina Kvarter (My Blocks) project, which was initiated by Svensk Byggtjänst (Swedish Building Services). The objective of Mina Kvarter was to restore and modernize the housing projects of the Million Programme, i.e. the one million apartments constructed by the Swedish government from the 1960s to the 1970s in response to the country's fast growing population and housing shortage. With Minecraft, residents of the Million Programme districts were able to help rebuild their neighborhood without any architectural training. Minecraft volunteers first created replicas of the areas to be redesigned, then citizens were invited to add, remove, and modify roads, parks, and other public infrastructure.

Today, Mojang announced its latest project called Block by Block in collaboration with UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme). The three-year partnership will support UN-Habitat's plans to upgrade 300 public spaces by the year 2016. Similar to Mina Kvarter, Block by Block aims to get the youth involved in urban planning by giving them the opportunity to show decision makers their future vision of their neighborhood. Once again, Minecraft will be utilized to facilitate the process.

Block by Block's pilot project is in the planning phase and will be carried out in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. The builder group FyreUK has already put together a Minecraft version of the area. Mojang will act as the primary financial sponsor for Block by Block and will work closely with the UN throughout the project. The studio is currently creating a website for Block by Block where all future updates will be posted.