USC Professor Gamifies Urban Planning with Award-Winning Video Game
Ecology and urban planning for the win.
It’s an electronic game, but Block’hood has grabbed awards and attention because it’s much more: It opens the challenges of urban planning to the masses.
The brainchild of Jose Sanchez, USC School of Architecture assistant professor, Block’hood lets players stack and assort 96 kinds of blocks to construct communities. Choose thoughtfully. Each block comes with inherent costs and benefits. What leads communities to weaken or decay? How do you take care of waste? How do you balance needs like electricity, jobs or food with population growth?
Walk through the game’s steps below; if you’re ready to play, click here.
Interested in more Block’hood? Check out the trailer for Gaming the Real World.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vme-ZDvhFvI