Ekistics: Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis

EKISTICS
Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis
This work is the property of Ar. Hilbert C. Mangonon. Always check the values given in this document against the original
references. For questions or corrections, contact the author at arhcmangonon@gmail.com.
Authorship + Disclaimer
This work is the property of Ar. Hilbert C. Mangonon. Always check the
values given in this document against the original references. For
questions or corrections, contact the author at
arhcmangonon@gmail.com.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
ANTHROPAREA
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis from the words Anthropos (human being) and area,
meaning the so-called built-up area or area mostly used by Anthropos in his daily life.
ANTHROPOCOSMOS
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis from the Greek words Anthropos and cosmos, (human
being and world), meaning world of Anthropos as distinguished from the greater
world or cosmos beyond Anthropos' reach.
ANTHROPOS
One of the five ekistics elements, it is the Greek word for human being, used instead
of the English word, "Man,“ since it has no connotation distinguishing sex or age but
means men and women equally, belonging to all age groups.
COMMUNITY CLASS
Based on a systematic classification of human communities expressed in the Ekistics
Logarithmic Scale (ELS), starting from class I, which corresponds to house group, and
ending with class XII, corresponding to Ecumenopolis.
CULTIVAREA
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis, meaning cultivated areas.
DEEPWAYS
The whole system of underground lines of transportation for private or mass-
transportation vehicles, few or many, traveling at all speeds, which is indispensable
for the solution of our urban problems. Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis, first used in his
studies of 1965 and 1966 and in his book Between Dystopia and Utopia, 1966.
DYNAPOLIS
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis and used since the early fifties in his teaching and
writing; meaning dynamic city or dynamic "polis." The ideal dynapolis is the city with a
parabolic uni-directional growth, which can expand in space, and time.
The dynamically growing city or "polis", in contrast to the traditional static city of the
past; completely unknown before the 18th century.
DYSTOPIA
From the Greek words "dys" and "topos." "Dys" signifies difficulty or evil. It is the
opposite of "eu" - good. In this combination and context, dystopia is another and
much more precise word for what anti-utopia was supposed to mean. V.L. Parrington
(1947) uses it instead of anti-utopia, and C.A. Doxiadis in his book Between Dystopia
and Utopia, 1966.
ECUMENOPOLIS
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis from the Greek words ecumene, that is, the total
inhabited area of the world, and polis, or city, in the broadest sense of the word. It
means the coming city that will - together with the corresponding open land, which is
indispensable for Anthropos - cover the entire earth as a continuous system forming a
universal settlement.
EKISTIC ELEMENTS
The five elements, which compose the human settlements:
(1) Nature,
(2) Anthropos (Man),
(3) Society,
(4) Shells and,
(5) Networks.
EKISTIC LOGARITHMIC SCALE (ELS)
A classification of settlements according to their size, presented on the basis of a
logarithmic scale, running from Anthropos (ekistic unit 1), as the smallest unit of
measurement, to the whole earth (ekistic unit 15). The ekistic logarithmic scale can
be presented graphically, showing area or number of people corresponding to each
unit, etc., so that it can be used as a basis for the measurement and classification of
many dimensions in human settlements.
EKISTICS
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis from the Greek words oikos, and oiko, "settling down," to
mean the science of human settlements. It conceives of the human settlement as a
living organism having its own laws and, through the study of the evolution of human
settlements from their most primitive phase to megalopolis and Ecumenopolis,
develops the interdisciplinary approach needed to solve its problems.
EKISTIC UNIT
A classification of parts of whole human settlements, starting from unit 1
corresponding to Anthropos, and ending with unit 15, corresponding to
Ecumenopolis. From unit 4, which corresponds to community class I, to unit 15,
which corresponds to community class XII, the ekistic units coincide with the
classification of human communities expressed in the ekistic logarithmic scale (els).
ENTOPIA
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis from the Greek words en and topos, "in" and "place," to
mean place that is practicable — that can exist.
EPEROPOLIS
Derived from the Greek words eperos, "continent" and polis, "city," it replaces the old
term "urbanized continent," which corresponded to ekistic unit 14 and community
class XI, with a population of 5,000 million.
GREAT LAKES MEGALOPOLIS (GLM)
The megalopolitan formation which is emerging around the Great Lakes of North
America involving parts of the States of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New York and a strip of the provinces of Ontario contiguous with
the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. This main part of GLM had in 1960 a
population of 36 million, within an area of about 89.2 thousand square miles. It is
encompassed by a secondary and outer zone, with about 36 million inhabitants
within an area of 457.6 thousand square miles, extending into the states of
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Vermont, in addition to
covering more area of the states and provinces mentioned above.
HOUSE and HOUSEGROUP
These terms replace "dwelling" and "dwelling group," which corresponded to ekistic
units 3 and 4, with a population of four and 40 people respectively. House group
corresponds to community class I.
HUSTREET
(husquare, hu-avenue, etc.) Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis to signify the division of the
human from the mechanical. A hustled-is a street reserved for human beings only, and
prohibited to machines
INDUSTRIES
Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis meaning industrial areas.
I.D.E.A. METHOD
Isolation of Dimensions and Elimination of Alternatives method (IDEA)
The gradual isolation of dimensions and the selection, by elimination, of the
alternatives, conceived along the isolated dimensions that satisfy certain ekistic
criteria. It is an attempt to eliminate the arbitrariness in the search of the many
dimensional parameter space of the urban system for the optimum alternative.
KINETIC FIELD
The distance Anthropos can move within a certain period by walking, by using
animals, or by using vehicles.
LANWAIR
Land, Water, Air. Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis to mean the transportation Network
conceived as a unified system, in which ports, airports, etc. are brought together as
LANWAIR knots, enabling people (and goods) to move from airplanes to boats, cars,
and trains without any extra formalities or difficulties.
MECSTREET
(mecsystem, mecarea, etc.) Term coined by C.A. Doxiadis to denote the mechanical
from the human. A mecstreet is a street reserved for machines only.
MEGALOPOLIS
Term used since ancient Greek times when the small city of Megalopolis was created
in Arcadia. Jean Gottmann gave a special meaning to this ancient term in 1961 in his
book, Megalopolis: the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. A
megalopolis is a greater urbanized area resulting from the merging of metropolises
and cities into one urban system. Its population is calculated in tens of millions. It
corresponds to ekistic unit 12 and community class IX.
METROPOLIS
A major, multi-center urban area with more than 50,000 people incorporating other
small settlements, both urban and rural, growing dynamically to sizes as high as ten
million people. The average population of such settlements between 50,000 and ten
million inhabitants is of the order of 2.5 million, while about one half of these
settlements have a population varying between 50,000 and 100,000.
NATURE
One of the five ekistic elements corresponding to the natural environment of
Anthropos as it exists before he starts remodeling it by cultivation and construction. It
provides the foundation upon which the settlement is created and the frame within
which it can function.
NETWORKS
One of the five ekistic elements corresponding to the Anthropos-made systems which
facilitate the functioning of settlements, such as roads, water supply, electricity.
PRETHEDE
Acronym coined by C.A. Doxiadis to mean a PRevention, THerapy and DEvelopment
program for human settlements.
POLIS
Corresponding to ekistic unit 8 and community class V, it has a population of 50,000
and replaces the term "city."
SHELLS
One of the five ekistic elements corresponding to all types of structures within which
Anthropos lives and carries out his various functions.
SIDEWALK
We must eliminate this word from our vocabularies, because if we keep using it we
will have to recognize that Anthropos (Man) is a slave who has to be put on the side.
SOCIETY
One of the five ekistic elements corresponding to human society with all its
characteristics, needs, and problems, where each individual is examined as only one
of its units
SMSA
Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area
Human settlements containing at least one city with 50,000 inhabitants or more and
having close economic and social relationships with contiguous settlements of
metropolitan character.
STRIDER
Development phase five extending from 2.5 to 5 years. This is also called the Play-Age
Phase. The strider increases his contacts beyond the small neighborhood, though he
now moves freely within his neighborhood, and joins a playgroup.
TODDLER
Development phase four extending from 16 to 30 months. At this time the toddler
moves within the house in a natural independent way, and beyond the house in a
natural dependent way.
TRANSUTILIDORS (MOVERIDORS)
Coordinated transportation and utility corridors.
UTOPIA
An imaginary and indefinitely remote place, or state of ideal perfection, especially in
laws, government, and social conditions. it is a Greek word, a combination of "ou",
“not”, and topos, “place”, meaning no-where or no-place.
INTRODUCTION
“Ekistics start with the premise that human settlements are
susceptible of systematic investigation” - C.A. Doxiadis
INTRODUCTION
In order to create cities of the future, we need to systematically develop a science of
human settlements. The science, termed Ekistics, will take into consideration the
principles man takes into account when building his settlements, as well as the
evolution of human settlements through history in terms of size and quality. The
target is to build the city of optimum size, that is, a city which respects human
dimensions. Since there is no point in resisting development, we should try to
accommodate technological evolution and the needs of man within the same
settlement.
INTRODUCTION
We cannot acquire proper knowledge about our villages, towns and cities unless we
manage to see the whole range of the man-made systems within which we live, from
the most primitive to the most developed ones – that is, the whole range of human
settlements.
INTRODUCTION
There is a need for a science dealing with human settlements, because otherwise we
cannot view these settlements in a reasonable way. Such science is possible in two
ways.
(1) by observing that, in some periods in the past, people must have had such a
science, which was probably written down only in ancient Greek times (in documents
by the architect and engineer Vitruvius).
INTRODUCTION
There is a need for a science dealing with human settlements, because otherwise we
cannot view these settlements in a reasonable way. Such science is possible in two
ways.
(2) we are now convinced that man, in creating his settlements, obeys general
principles and laws whose validity can be demonstrated.
INTRODUCTION
To achieve the needed knowledge and develop the science of human settlements we
must move from an interdisciplinary to a condisciplinary science; making links
between disciplines is not enough.
THE PRINCIPLES
THE PRINCIPLES
In shaping his settlements, man has always acted in obedience to five principles.
(1) the maximization of man’s potential contacts with the elements of nature (such as
water and trees), with other people, and with the works of man (such as buildings
and roads).
THE PRINCIPLES
(2) the minimization of the effort required for the achievement of mans actual and
potential contacts.
THE PRINCIPLES
(3) the optimization of man’s protective space.
THE PRINCIPLES
(4) the optimization of the quality of man’s relationship with his environment, which
consist of nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of all sorts), and networks
(ranging from roads to telecommunications).
THE PRINCIPLES
(5) man organizes his settlements in an attempt to achieve an optimum synthesis of

the other four principles, and this optimization is dependent on time and space, on
actual conditions, and on man’s ability to create a synthesis.
THE EXTENT OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
THE EXTENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
When we view human settlements as systems of energy mobilized by man – either as
basal metabolic or as muscular or, recently, as commercial energy systems – we get
new insights.
(A) Energy model of the central
settlement of a system of villages. Daily
per capita energy consumption, 12,000
calories.
(B) Energy model of the central
settlement of a system of villages during
the era of the automobile. Daily per capita
energy consumption, 25,000 calories.
Energy models of the central settlement of a system of villages during the era of the
automobile and of industry. Daily per capita energy consumption, (up) 25,000 calories;
(middle) 45,000 calories; (right) 100,000 calories.
Throughout this evolution there is only one factor which defines the extent of human
settlements: the distance man wants to go or can go in the course of his daily life.
(1) growth of a system, pedestrian kinetic
fields only.
(2) growth of a system, pedestrian and
mechanical kinetic fields.
(3) growth of a system: pedestrian and
mechanical kinetic fields.
The idea that the small, romantic city of earlier times is appropriate to the era of
contemporary man who developed science and technology is therefore a mistaken
one. New, dynamic types of settlements interconnecting more and more smaller
settlements are the types appropriate to this era. To stop this change from city (polis)
to dynapolis, we would have to reverse the road created by science and technology
for man’s movement in terrestrial spaces.
CLASSIFICATION BY SIZE
The changing dimensions of human settlements and the change in their character
from static to dynamic, which gives them different aspects with every day that passes,
makes the settlements confusing places in which to live, and people, instead of facing
this new problem with realism, start trying to escape from the confusion.
To discuss quality of life or any other important phenomenon in human settlements
without referring to their size is impossible. The confusion caused by the use of terms
such as small and big, town and metropolis, city and megalopolis is very great. If we
want to avoid it, we must classify all human settlements by size in order to be able to
understand them and assign them values.
To achieve a proper classification, by sizes, of all human settlements, we should start
with the smallest units.
(1) the smallest one is a man himself as an individual. This spatial unit includes the
individual, his clothing, and certain furniture, like his chair.
(2) the second unit is the space which belongs to him alone, or is shared under
certain circumstances with a few others – that is, his personal room.
(3) the third unit, the family home, is well defined also, as long as we have families.
(4) the fourth unit is a group of homes which corresponds to the patriarchal home of
earlier days and probably to the unit of the extended family of our day.
THE QUALITY OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
QUALITY OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Judgement about quality can be made in several ways in terms of the relation of
every individual to his environment – that is, his relation to nature, society, shells, and
networks – and the benefit that he gets from these contacts.
QUALITY OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
We can measure his relation to air and to its quality; to water in his home, in the river
or lake, and at sea (its quality and his access to it); and to land resources (their beauty
and accessibility) and the recreational and functional facilities provided by them; and
we can express judgements based on the measurements of many physical and social
aspects of the cities.
MORPHOGENESIS
MORPHOGENESIS
Morphogenesis in human settlements varies with the type of unit we are dealing
with.
The built up area of a village
Priorities and importance of each part
must be related to the whole and to
disregard one part of the whole, as we
often do, is to commit a grave mistake.
(CA Doxiadis)
END

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EKISTICS

Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis

(3) the optimization of man’s protective space.

(5) man organizes his settlements in an attempt to achieve an optimum synthesis of

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