Swedish Indie game maker Mojang in partnership with the UN-Habitat will today at the iHub, a coworking space and business incubator, in Kenya’s capital Nairobi unveil a new gaming tool dubbed Block by Block, targeted at mobilizing the youth to participate in urbanization.
Based on Minecraft, one of two gaming projects by Mojang, Block by Block gives citizens an opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future.
The tool also gives people a tool to visualize their ideas of how they want to change their part of town without need for architectural knowledge.
Players gather resources to survive monsters that come out at night, and to build homes and creations. Schools around the world have been using Minecraft in social building projects.
On one such project in Sweden ‘Mina Kvarter’ (english: My Blocks) initiated by Svensk Byggtjänst, Minecraft gives resident the opportunity to be part of shaping their future neighborhood through intuitive tools.
A pilot project for Kenya’s settlement Kibera is said to be in its planning phase. Kibera has 2.5 million slum dwellers in about 200 settlements in Nairobi representing 60 percent of the Nairobi population, occupying just 6 percent of the land and has thus been on the UN Habitat’s slum upgrade radar.
The free launch event will take place Tuesday, November 7, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EAT).
