Talented young Londoners have immersed themselves in world-famous video game Minecraft to design a greener, more sustainable city and win the Mayor’s Design Future London Schools

Challenge.

Youngsters from across the capital used their creative skills to design sustainable changes to a special Minecraft version of Croydon town centre and the winners of the challenge were announced today at a ceremony at City Hall. 

The collaboration between City Hall, Microsoft’s Minecraft Education and C40 Cities aims to inspire young Londoners into future careers in the green, tech and design industries. 

The Mayor made his virtual debut as a non-player character in the new London Minecraft World, introducing the challenge to young Londoners.

The youngest participants produced a two minute video explaining their vision of a greener Croydon. Older students went even further creating physical models, worked up proposals, videos and presentations setting out their ideas. Many of the winning submissions focussed on the reuse of buildings rather than redevelopment - supporting a circular, more sustainable economy in line with the Mayor’s London Plan. Students were also keen to include bright, new spaces for the community in their designs, such as rooftop gardens and tailor-made facilities for young people.

There were more than 150 entries to the Design Future London Schools Challenge.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We were blown away by the fantastic ideas and designs young Londoners came up with to create the Croydon town centre of the future, from sustainable housing and community spaces to art and transport.

“Partnering with Minecraft Education has made this challenge even more fun and engaging and I congratulate all the young people who took part. They will be designing the homes and green spaces of future generations and I hope will continue our work to build a safer, fairer, greener and more prosperous city for all Londoners.”

The Mayor of London worked with C40 Cities on the challenge, as part of their Schools Reinventing Cities programme which incorporates Minecraft Education. Other partners included George Clarke’s education charity MOBIE – Ministry of Building Innovation and Education, Croydon Council and Mayors Fund for London.  

George Clarke, MOBIE founder, said: "Inspiring young talent to help define the communities of the future and reshape and improve existing places is a real passion of mine. Creating places that are innovative, beautiful, genuinely sustainable, and transform the quality of people’s lives is why we hold these challenges".

“I was very impressed by the variety and quality of entries to Design Future London. Each design was incredibly well thought out and took into account the varied and complex challenges facing Croydon, and London more generally.  Young people are certainly not short of brilliant ideas about how to transform our built environment for the better based on the amazing finalists' schemes we saw today.  I can't wait to see what they do next."

Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 Cities, said: “C40 Cities is thrilled to have worked with Minecraft Education and the Mayor of London to give young people the chance to reimagine Croydon Town Centre. Youth voices are vital to the future of cities, and programs like Schools Reinventing Cities help to make sure they are heard. The winners of Design Future London exemplified what a greener, safer future could look like through their innovative ideas and people-first designs. C40 congratulates all participants and encourages them to keep thinking big — our future depends on it.”

Executive Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, said: “This was a fun and accessible way to introduce town planning and regeneration to young people. Congratulations to all the winners. Croydon has the largest population of young people in London, so it was the perfect place for this competition. It’s always great to hear from our young people about their ideas for how to make our communities greener and more sustainable.”

Justin Edwards, Director of Learning Experiences of Minecraft Education said: “I’ve been impressed by the innovation and creativity students of all ages have showcased in the Design Future competition. Their diverse perspectives produced imaginative visions of ways to make Croydon, and London, a better place to live. I’m delighted to see how they’ve put their STEM skills to good use, to reimagine the spaces we live and work in. And I am sure they had fun using Minecraft, too.”

Julian McIntosh, JMA architect and TV presenter said: “Transforming places with creativity and innovation is at the heart of what we do at JMA. We loved seeing the creativity and ingenuity coming through in the students’ work.” Photo by Tiia Monto, Wikimedia commons.