Games including Minecraft and The Sims could foster more positive attitudes to the planning process, government told

10 LW Consultation 2 Minecraft modelling in schools_Agora Love Wolverton by Town

Source: Simon Beckett

The committee said games such as Minecraft can help connect young people to the built environment sector

Engaging children and young people with video games could help minimise future commercial and planning risk, according to a cross-party House of Lords committee.

The Built Environment Committee said games including Minecraft, The Sims and Assassins’ Creed can be effective in connecting young people to construction and design, promoting more positive attitudes to development in the planning process.

The committee has published its findings in an open letter to the government following an inquiry exploring how younger people can interact, engage with, work in and help share their views and experiences of the built environment. 

Benjamin Gascoigne, chair of the Built Environment Committee, said: “If we want to tackle the so-called NIMBY vs YIMBY debate, if we want to grow the economy and build more homes, if we want people to feel they are shaping their own communities then looking at ways of engaging and involving young people is an enormous step forward.

“Children and young people care about the built environment and effective engagement with them can help to reduce commercial and planning risk and create sustainable, cohesive places.”

Gascoigne said it was important that young people are engaged with “in a manner they understand”, with the committee hearing that video games are increasingly young people’s first introduction to the themes of world building, construction, and design.

The letter added that early engagement with children and young people, particularly in educational settings, can help to challenge stereotypes, highlight previously unknown career opportunities, and help strengthen pathways into the built environment sector. 

It follows the government’s Milburn Review, published in May, which found nearly one million people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training.

The committee suggested greater engagement with young people could help plug future skills gaps in the built environment sector, particularly in planning and construction.

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