“Pop-up public spaces” combined with what have been described as “democratic three-dimensional tools” are proving an effective way to engage poor communities in urban design.

That’s the view of Pontus Westerberg, of UN-Habitat, the UN programme for sustainable cities.

He is the manager of the Block by Block initiative, a collaboration between UN- Habitat and the makers of the videogame Minecraft.

His team created a so-called pop-up venue in a large park in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, just outside the venue of the recent Habitat III conference on the future of world cities.

Matthew Wells went along to take a look.

Duration: 3’53”