Ekistics: Conception, Propagation, and Relevance - An Historical Review

Abstract

This paper describes how ekistics was conceived by Constantinos Doxiadis and the means by which it was propagated. Besides applying ekistic principles to actual projects at Doxiadis Associates (DA), he supervised research at the Athens Center for Ekistics (ACE) and trained future ekisticians at the Graduate School of Ekistics (GSE). Personal anecdotes are included about the Ekistics Journal, the Delos Symposia, the World Society for Ekistics (WSE) and the activities of various Branch Societies. The dedication is to Panayis Psomopoulos who brought ekistics into the twenty-first century and the loyal team who supported him.

The second part of the paper delves into ekistic theory, introducing the five disciplines, the five elements, population scale, ecumenopolis, ecumenokepos, the ekistic grid, territorial scale, the anthropocosmos model and entopia (between utopia and dystopia). Along the way we meet examples of applied ekistics, ranging from regional planning in China to organizing the sessions of a WSE conference to planning for the forthcoming sequel to the Sustainable Development Goals. The conclusion is, let us, like Arnold Toynbee, be inspired to pursue ekistics as long as we keep our life and our wits.