Great news! The work in Lotus Gardens in Mumbai, India has been completed. Thanks to contributions from the Minecraft community, this previously completely run-down playground can now be safely used again by the kids in the area. 

In August 2014, UN-Habitat and the Lima Park Services held a series of community consultations in Lima, Peru. Around 40 citizens aged 10-85 came together to use Minecraft to redesign a park in the Villa El Salvador area of the city. The Minecraft designs will now be included in the final designs prepared by the Lima Park Services and built together with UN-Habitat. 

UN-Habitat using Minecraft to involve citizens in the design of public spaces in Lima, Peru. 

Built for UN-Habitat’s public space project in Lima by Minecraft experts FyreUK. The world is currently being used for community participation in Lima. 

Work is now in progress to upgrade Jeevanjee Gardens in central Nairobi. Here are a few photos. 

Here are pictures of the most recent Block by Block Minecraft model - Sinay Market in Mogadishu, Somalia. We used this model to visualize the proposed improvements to the site. 

As part of Block by Block’s rehabilitation of Place de la Paix in Les Cayes, Haiti, we commissioned local artists to decorate the walls of the sport field. Here are a couple of pictures from the work. 

The winners of the Block by Block competition held at the Aldea Digital digital inclusion festival have been announced. 

Most points overall - Samantha Gabriela Monroy Sanchez, age 12

Sociability - Carlos Eduardo Gonzalez Aguiano, age 13

Playfulness - Ruben Darien Mora Huerta, age 13

Safety and security - Noe del Castillo Piña, age 15

The happy winners of an Xbox each - Samantha, Ruben, Carlos and Noe

We recently ran a project in Les Cayes, Haiti’s third largest city, in which groups of citizens were asked to redesign the city’s waterfront. More info and pictures from this project will follow shortly, but in the meantime, here is the timelapse video of the build courtesy of FyreUK

The response at Aldea Digital has been overwhelming. So far over 200 people have redesigned Plaza Tlaxcoaque in Minecraft and we have seen lots of great entries. The three winners will be presented on Sunday 27 April. 

You can follow the building in real time on this server map. 

Here are photos from the first weekend. 

For the Aldea Digital competition we have created 500 versions of Plaza Tlaxcoaque on a server. In the first few days of the Aldea about 200 kids have redesigned the square. 

Below is a map showing all the plots on the server. You can also follow the competition in real time. 

Block by Block is taking part in the Aldea Digital digital inclusion festival, held 11-27 April in Mexico City. As part of the festival, we are holding a competition in which young people are asked to redesign Plaza Tlaxcoaque, a square in central Mexico City, to make it more social, safe and playful.

We are expecting between 500 and 1,000 entries and we’ll keep you posted on the progress here and on the Twitter hashtag #blockbyblock. Three winners will be presented on the final day of the festival.

Our friends over at FyreUK have once again built a fantastic model which we’re using for the competition. Here are some pictures.

1 April 2013

Are you in Mexico City? If so, can you help Block by Block out with a cool project?

After using Minecraft as a community consultation tool in Kenya, Nepal and Haiti, we now have an opportunity to test it at scale as part of Aldea Digital in Mexico City.

Aldea Digital is a massive digital festival held in the Zocalo square in the centre of Mexico City between 11-27 April. The organisers are expecting 200,000 people to attend during the course of the two weeks.

Every day of the festival we’ll will be holding a competition, inviting young people to use Minecraft to redesign a public space not far from the Zocalo. 

But to make the competition a success, we need your help! We are looking for facilitators, both with and and without Minecraft knowledge, to help us organise the events. 

Are you interested? If so, please fill out this Google form and we’ll contact you. 

Aldea Digital 2013

11 March 2014

Kirtipur is an old town in Nepal which has kept its traditional lifestyle and culture. Like other towns and cities in the Kathmandu Valley, Kirtipur built excellent systems for water and urban space management. Public water bodies like ponds, stone spouts and wells are surrounded by public spaces used for relaxation, recreation and rituals.

However, recently, may of these spaces are have fallen into disrepair or been taken over due to pressures from rapid urbanization. According to the official 2011 census, the city is growing at a rate of 4.8 % per year. There is a strong need to revitalize public spaces and water bodies, to make Kirtipur a vibrant city again. 

UN‐Habitat and its local implementing partner, the Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD), are working to conserve and enhance Dey
Pukhu (“State Pond”) and surrounding areas through community participation and community public space management and Minecraft has been used as a tool for participatory project planning. 

Women’s community meeting

Minecraft workshop with young people

Work clearing up the pond has started 

4 March 2014

Here are more photos from the improvement works that are currently underway at the Gautam Nagar public space in Mumbai and funded by Mojang and the Minecraft community. 

The local children are already starting to use the space!