Minecraft will clean up your crappy neighborhood

Minecraft developer Mojang announced yesterday a new project that aims to use the game as a tool to visualize urban redevelopment projects:

“Block by Block” aims to involve youth in the planning process in urban areas by giving them the opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future.  Minecraft has turned out to be the perfect tool to facilitate this process. The three-year partnership will support UN-Habitat’s Sustainable Urban Development Network to upgrade 300 public spaces by 2016. The first pilot project in Kibera one of Nairobi’s informal settlements is already in the planning phase.

A picture of the settlement: