American Geographical Society

Ekistics: An Introduction to the Science of Human Settlements by Constantinos A. Doxiadis

Review by: R. I. Wolfe
Geographical Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 147-148
Published by: American Geographical Society
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 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS 147

teachingappliedanthropologists,muchof valuemight be lost to studentsand to the field

at large."
andexact-interested
The bookshouldbe requiredreadingfor allscientists-behavioral
in takingpartin actionprogramsanywhere,eithercrashor long-range.-RAYMOND E. CRIST

EKISTICS: An Introduction to the Science of Human Settlements.By CONSTANTINOS A.

DOXIADIS.xxix and 527 pp.; maps,diagrs.,ills., bibliogr.,index. Oxford University
Press,New York, 1968.$35.00.11 x 84 inches.
reviewof thismammothbookin the
In a long, detailed,andfor the mostpartsympathetic
Journalof theAmericanInstituteof Planners(Vol. 35, 1969, pp. 200-202), Harry A. Anthony
rightlypointsouthow nicea personConstantinos
Doxiadisis, how industrious,
enthusiastic,
andeminent."Planningbadlyneedsa theory,"Anthonyadds,"andthisremarkable book
onethananythingwe hadup untilnow."How close?Andwhat
comescloserto establishing
theory?Andwhathasit to offerto geographers?
The presentreviewaddressesitselfto these
questions.
Doxiadis'sconceptsof the Ekisticsgrid, dynapolis,ecumenopolis,and the restare by
now familiar,if sometimesin a rathernebulousway, to allpersonswho havemorethana su-
perficialinterestin the studyof humansettlements. "Ekistics"itselfis, of course,at leastby
intention,the scienceof humansettlements; Doxiadiscoinedthe termwhen he was stillin
his twenties,andhe has spentnearlythirtyyearselaboratingon it. Thisbook presentsthe
resultsso far.But largeasit is, thebookis onlyintendedasanoutlineof Doxiadis'spersonal
experienceandasanintroductionto the totaleffortneededto understand humansettlements
of the pastandpresentand to planbetteronesfor the future.Othervolumeswill follow.
One of theseothervolumeswill presenta mathematical Ekisticstheory.This is well;
for almostno mathematical treatmentof the subjectis givenin the presentvolume,andthe
little thereis can only be describedas peculiar.For example,assume,with Doxiadis,that
humansettlementsconsistof five elements(Nature,Man, Society,Shells,and Networks)
andthatwe canclassifythe knowledgewe haveabouttheminto five basiccategories(eco-
nomics,socialsciences,politicalsciences,technologicaldisciplines,andculturaldisciplines).
"Ifwe combineone elementwith one discipline,we have25 combinations. But if we com-
bine all the elementswith all the disciplines,as we must,thenwe will have 1,023or 2I?-1
combinations.If we assume,though,that the right combinationsare those of the nodal
points(e.g. Naturestudiedthrougheconomics,with Man studiedthroughpoliticaldisci-
plines)we will have33,554,431 or 1025-1 (sic)combinations. All thesecalculations arebased
on theexistenceof onemanonly.If we considerthattherearethreepeople,thenwe willhave
35 nodal points, which means, on the basis of the first assumption4,095 or 2I2-1 combina-
tions,andon the basisof the secondone 235-1 or billions,etc."
As theabovequotationevidences,thesalientfactaboutDoxiadis,andtheonethatcomes
out moststronglyin thisbook,is not thathe is famousor thathe is successful, but thathe is
idiosyncratic.He readswidelyandhe listenswell, but remainssupremely the ideas
he "I":
he proposesarehisideas,recognizably so no matterwhatcompanytheykeep.
Theresultis, asit is boundto be, controversy.If a manproposesa systemof thoughtthat
is uniquelyhisown, he mustdemonstrate thatit worksbetterthanothersystemswith which
it is competing.He shouldthereforebe carefulof themechanics of histhought.Thereis much
in Doxiadis'smechanicsto takeexceptionto. He maintainsthatlaw precedestheory,a most

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148 THE GEOGRAPHICALREVIEW

dubiousproposition.And he erectsa set of fifty-four "laws,"some of which areaxioms, most

of which are trivial, and none of which are what almost anyone else would call laws. (Here
are some examples chosen for brevity: Law 5: "Human settlements are created by their
inhabitantsand their existence depends on them." Law 21: "The elements in each part of a
settlementtend toward balance."Law 39: "The texture of a human settlementchanges as its
dimensionschange." Law 52: "The densitiesin a settlementor in any of its partsdepend on
the forces which are exercised upon it.") Each law is accompaniedby one or two short
paragraphsof explication, rarely more; they are not enough.
Unlike Darwin's theory of evolution or Newton's theory of gravity, the "theory" that
Doxiadis erectsupon these "laws" cannot be statedsuccinctly.The reasonis that there is no
theory. Doxiadis's work is descriptiveand prescriptive,but it is not testable,and without the
possibility of testing there can be no scientific theory. We may find the idea of dynapolis
exciting and of ecumenopolishorrifying, and we may try to promote the one and abort the
other, but in neither case are we doing "science"or applying "theory"-nor does it matter.
What, then, is the value of Doxiadis's work for geographers?Doxiadis himself has an
unusuallystrong rapportwith geographers;indeed, he basedmuch of his own thinking and
work on Walter Christaller'sideas long before the name "Christaller"was known to most
geographers,and he has deliberatelyset out to createa hexagonalhierarchyof centralplaces
on the plains of Pakistan.And his recognition of Jean Gottmann'swork is equally explicit.
It is heartening to see practitionersin other disciplinesmake so devoted an attempt to put
fundamentalconceptsfrom geography to good, practicaluse, and to this extent geography is
in Doxiadis's debt. Nor should the stimulusto imaginative thought provided by Doxiadis's
wide-ranging ideas about past, present,and future be underestimated.
ConstantinosDoxiadis is a grave man and a concernedman. He has read, conversed,and
thought much; above all, he has traveled and observed much, constantly photographing,
sketching,thinking, classifying.The resultsareshown in the hundredsof beautifullyexecuted
sketchesand maps. Few people will ever have the opportunity to match the range of Dox-
iadis'sexperiencenor can many expect to matchhis industry.For presentingus with the fruits
of both experience and industryhe deservesour gratitude.-R. I. WOLFE

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