Constantinos A. Doxiadis

In this book, Doxiadis proposes ekistics as a science of human settlements and outlines its scope, aims, intellectual framework and relevance. A major incentive for the development of the science is the emergence of increasingly large and complex settlements, tending to regional conurbations and even to a world-wide city (Doxiadis uses the work "ecumenopolis"). However, 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.