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Gender-responsive urban planning using Minecraft and the block by block Project [Pristina, Kosovo]
Pristina (Kosovo), a city in one of the poorest areas of Europe, was one of the first sites selected by UN-Habitat to test their new Block by Block Methodology in Europe for participatory urban planning. This methodology was developed to offer a low threshold participatory approach to better include underrepresented voices, in particular women, young adults and children, in urban planning decisions64. The project focused on re-designing the former green market in Sunny Hill. The design proposal was developed in three consecutive phases. First, residents, with a specific focus on including voices of young girls, identified needs and priorities for the design of the park. Then, after a short introduction to design and public space, small teams of participants modelled different design solutions. A gendered lens informed the discussion in every design category. A range of proposals were put forward by future users which included improving movement and connection, multifunctional play spaces, and urban furniture which offered accessible, friendly and comfortable seating options fitting the needs of people of different ages, genders, and with disabilities. Participants co-created the final design on a multiplayer Minecraft server, based on the 17 ideas generated by the teams. The designs were presented to a wide audience of urban professionals, including the mayor of Pristina. The final concept featured a range of facilities addressing the needs of various groups, including gardens, comfortable resting places, a playground, and Kosovo s first skatepark. Municipal support is important for the success of a project like Sunny Hill Park. Implementing a participatory design strategy requires the collaboration of many stakeholders, including specific expert knowledge, technical equipment and motivated residents. Workshop facilitators need to be proficient in data collection and analysis and navigate various group dynamics with people of various intersecting identities. Participants also need to meet in a large space with many computers to work together and designers need to put the ideas together so they can be realised. The effort is reflected in a better design that fits the needs and wants of the community.
Above all, political support is critical to the success of such endeavours.
We live in a municipality, in a community. We should establish a mindset that we should jointly make decisions about how a certain part of the
neighbourhood where we live should look Shpend Ahmeti, Mayor of Pristina.
64 Block by Block, Building Peace in Kosovo , see at: https://www.blockbyblock.org/projects/kosovo
[ CALL TO ACTION ] Are you curious how young women can be engaged in the design of urban spaces? Check out other examples from the UN-Habitat HerCity project, and explore their methodology and toolkit.
Case Study
