2. INTRODUCTION
The term Ekistics was coined by Greek
architect and urban planner Konstantinos
Apostolos Doxiadis in 1942.
It applies to the study of human
settlements which includes regional, city,
community planning and dwelling design.
Ekistics aims to encompass all scales of
human habitation and seeks to learn from
the archeological and historical record by
looking not only at great cities, but, as
much as possible, at the total settlement
pattern.
3. EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Phase 1: Primitive non-organized human settlements
(started with evolution of man)
Phase 2: Primitive organized settlements -Eopolis (period
of villages lasted 10,000 years)
Phase 3: Static urban settlements or cities -Polis (lasted
about 5,000 to 6,000 years)
Phase 4: Dynamic urban settlements -Dynapolis (lasted
200 to 400 years)
Phase 5: Universal City -Ecumenopolis (which is now
beginning)
6. Isolated dwellings: 1 or 2 buildings or
families with negligible services, if any.
Hamlet: A tiny population (<100) & very
few (if any) services, & few buildings.
Village: Generally does not have many
services, possibly having only a small
corner shop or post office. Population of
100 to 1,000.
Metropolis: A large city & its suburbs
consisting of multiple cities & towns
having 1 to 17 3 million people.
Megalopolis: A group of conurbations,
consisting of more than 10 million people
each.
Ecumenopolis: The entire area of Earth
taken up by human settlements.
7. EKISTICS ELEMENTS
Nature: Represents
ecosystems including
water cycle, biosystems,
climatic zones, etc.
Anthropos: Human factors
that are constantly
adapting & changing,
certain physical &
psychological diseases
directly associated with
urbanisation.
8. Society: Realm of society comprises all those
aspects of the urban or rural scene that are
commonly dealt with by sociologists, economists
& administrators: population trends, social
customs, income & occupations, & the system of
urban government.
Shells: The built environment in various shapes
and sizes which provide shelter and protection.
Networks: The choice of a comfortable dwelling
will take into account the availability of the
network, especially the transportation network that
contributes to the access of occupancy to centers of
activities and clean water networks as a means of
basic human needs.
11. THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
Doxiadis was involved in the design of
this new campus in Pakistan.
Used ekistics principles to create a
campus he believed was built for true ”
human scale”.
Limited the number of roads on campus,
banning them from the classroom areas.
All the educational buildings are
interconnected to permit people to walk
from one to the other.
Courtyards provide a place for meetings
between people.
12. DOXIADIS’ BAGHDAD
Doxiadis Associates identified
Tigris as reference for establishing a
central axis of growth.
Ideal limits of the future Iraqi capital
set to 3 million—approximately
three times larger than 1958
population which suggested
Baghdad’s maximum limits, defined
with an elongated rectangle
orientated along the main NW-SE
axis of the river.
Rectangular area incorporated
some of existing major roads &
suggested opening of new roads
that would adopt a rectilinear
pattern.
DoxiadisAssociates,The Master Plan for
Baghdad, Iraq, 1958
13. Residential sectors &
subsectors arranged
according to rectangular
grid system, modified in
middle, to accommodate
commercial district.
Commercial district
included old city centre &
new commercial centre
expected to emerge along
main axis of Dynapolis.
New commercial centres to
abide by rectilinear logic of
road system & residential
grid.
14. “Western Baghdad Development Scheme” to house 100,000 people.
Composed of different “community sectors” of seven to ten thousand
people.
Each sector provided for administrative, social, educational, health &
other community buildings, shopping centers, green areas, coffee
houses, & mosques.
Plan of Community Sector inWest Baghdad Model of Community Sector in West Baghdad .
15. Sub-hamlets built in
groups of 10 or 15 small
attached houses beside a
pedestrian way, at end of
which was a small gossip
square (an idea from
Hassan Fathy, the Egyptian
architect who joined the
Ekistics group in 1957).
Doxiadis asked that term
to be replaced with
“community squares of
first degree”.
16. Standardized “house types” pushed courtyards to side or
back of each unit, thereby losing any of traditional
courtyards’ climatic benefits & secluded qualities.
Upper-Income Housing inWest Baghdad
HouseTypes inWest Baghdad
17. NEED TO BALANCE ELEMENTS OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
We are dealing by necessity with:
Nature, which is being spoilt
Man, who is continuously changing
Society, which is changing because of man’s new needs
Shells, which must be constructed
Networks, which are also changing to cope up with new
demands
18. CONCLUSIONS
Study of human settlements should be comprehensive and have
an interdisciplinary scope related to five ekistics elements.
Any study of settlements shall refer to ekistics units of scale
from man to Ecumenopolis, the fifteen levels in ekistics
logarithmic scale.
Time dimension must be integrated in analysis and design of
human settlements from past to present to distant future.
The scientific method shall be used in a systematic treatment of
human settlements, following the models, concepts, principles,
values & postulations of ekistics.
City must be treated as a dynamic settlement for which the
concept of Dynapolis allows for growth & change.
