Amman, Jordan – 9 September 2026
The Jameel C40 Urban Planning Climate Labs, a partnership between C40 Cities and Community Jameel, together with Minecraft Education, the Greater Amman Municipality, and the Queen Rania Centre for Education and Information Technology, awarded the winning prize of the Schools Reinventing Cities competition to Team Um Tufail from Um Tufail Mixed Secondary School at an official ceremony held today at the Al Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman.
2026 Schools Reinventing Cities participants
The competition brought together 97 students across 16 schools over a ten-week design challenge using the digital world of Minecraft Education, a game-based platform developed by the makers of Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time, in which players use blocks to build and explore infinite worlds.
Through the competition, the students reimagined public spaces in the Al-Yadudah neighbourhood of Amman, with a focus on improving access to healthy food, tackling extreme heat, and creating vibrant, accessible places for play and community life.
The competition forms part of the wider efforts of the Jameel C40 Urban Planning Climate Labs, which work directly with city authorities in Amman and Chennai to align spatial plans and land-use policies with climate targets, emissions pathways and climate risk data. Across both cities, the Labs have helped shape 15 urban planning policies, regulations, and municipal strategies, directly reaching 4.5 million people, including 2.52 million people in Amman.
Schools Reinventing Cities brings this climate planning work into the classroom, giving young people a role in reimagining the public spaces, systems, and climate-resilient neighbourhoods they envision for their city.
The awards ceremony brought together young innovators, city officials, urban planners, and educators to view the winning digital proposals. The teams were assessed based on the quality of their presentations, models, creativity, and the feasibility of implementing their proposals.
2026 Schools Reinventing Cities winners
Team Um Tufail’s proposal addressed traffic congestion and air pollution, high energy use and waste, lack of green space, and overreliance on private cars in a rapidly growing city. The proposal included a walkable neighbourhood with public transport, bicycle paths, and electric vehicle charging; solar energy and recycling; parks and natural areas; and connected community services such as a school, library, mosque, and shops.
The jury found that Team Um Tufail envisioned “a community built around people, nature, and technology, where every area has a purpose and all areas work together as one connected system”.
Team Eco Builders from Nusaybah Al-Maziniyah Mixed Secondary School came in second place, while the third place award went to Naifa AmmanCraft, from Naifeh First Secondary School for Girls, which presented a project titled Voxel.
The winning team stood out by integrating public transport into its neighbourhood design as a way to reduce emissions and dependence on private cars. The Team Um Tufail project will contribute to the implementation of the Jameel C40 Urban Planning Climate Labs’ plan for the wider Kherbet Al-Souq area, which was submitted to the Greater Amman Municipality in May 2026.
The plan identifies public transport as critical to making its neighbourhoods, including Al-Yadudah, climate-responsive, addressing urban sprawl, rising emissions, traffic congestion, and air pollution, while improving equitable access to jobs and services for lower-income households, women, and refugee populations.
Reactions
Eng. Ziad Abu Arabi, Deputy City Manager for Planning and Economic Development at Greater Amman Municipality, said: “The initiative serves as a vital model for engaging youth in solving real urban and climate challenges, turning their creativity into visions for a greener, more resilient city.” He highlighted that collaboration with C40 Cities, Community Jameel, and local partners aligns Amman’s efforts with global best practices, adding that “the initiative’s true value lies in the practical skills and experience gained by the students.”
Nader Diab, Head of Programmes at Community Jameel, said: “Climate-resilient cities need to be shaped by the people who will live in them. Through the Jameel C40 Urban Planning Climate Labs, Community Jameel is pleased to support work that brings young people into the planning process, giving students in Amman a voice in reimagining safer, greener, and more inclusive neighbourhoods for the future.”
Eng. Muneeb Tashman, Director of the Queen Rania Center for Educational Technology and Information, Ministry of Education, highlighted: “the educational impact of applying Minecraft Education to real-world issues like transit, energy, water, and waste.” He noted that “the partnership reflects the integration of education with sustainable development, cultivating critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork among students” while commending the dedication of participating teachers and mentors.
Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 Cities, said: “Young people are not just the future of our cities—they are ready to shape them right now. The ingenuity displayed by Amman’s youth in this year’s Schools Reinventing Cities challenge is nothing short of inspiring. By partnering with Community Jameel and Minecraft Education, C40 is proud to provide a platform that unleashes students’ creativity, giving them a real voice in how their communities respond to the climate crisis. The ideas celebrated yesterday at the Al Hussein Cultural Centre prove that when students get a say in city building, they design cities that are not only climate-safe, but full of play, community, and possibility.”
By proposing practical ways to improve public space, access to healthy food, and climate resilience, the Um Tufail students’ ideas will provide an additional youth perspective to the Jameel C40 Urban Planning Climate Labs and Greater Amman Municipality’s ongoing planning and design process for Kherbet Al-Souq. Additional selected proposals will be shared with the Greater Amman Municipality to help inform future interventions as the neighbourhood develops.