INTRODUCTION

14 MAY 1914 -28 JUNE 1975

 Constantinos A. Doxiadis, Greek architect and planner most famous for
founding ‘Ekistics” the movement and the journal dealing with the
problems and science of human settlements in the 1940s He graduated
as Architect-Engineer from the Athens Technical University in 1935 and
obtained his doctorate at Charlottenburg University, Berlin, one year
later.

 He has studied , programmed, planned and designed projects covering

several fields like rural settlements, agriculture and irrigation, industrial
settlements, manufacturing, power and public works, commerce and
tourism, transportation and communications, housing, urban renewal
and development of new cities.

 During his lifetime Doxiadis received several awards and decorations, “We do not learn only by great minds; we

both civil and military as well as one posthumous award, the Royal learn from everyone , if only we observe

Architectural Institute of Canada's Gold Medal for 1976. and inquire ..”
- Constantinos A. Doxiadis
 HISTOR
Y
Appointed Chief Served as Undersecretary Founded the

1958-71
1945-1951
1945

1951

1963 & 1964

Town Planning Greece's Founded Doxiadis Founded the
and Director- Athens Center
Officer for the representative to Associates, a Athens
General of the of Ekistics.
Greater Athens England, France private firm of Technological
Ministry of (1963)
Area and the US on the consulting Organization.
Housing and
problems of post- engineers, with a (1951)
war reconstruction Reconstruction Served as
small group of
of Greece(1945- representative
architects and Taught ekistics at
48) of Greece on the
planners, many of the Athens
Housing,
whom had worked Technological
Subsequently as Building and
with him on the Organization
Minister- Planning
Greek Recovery and lectured at
Coordinator of Committee of
Program universities all
the Greek the Economic
over the US as
Recovery and Social
well as at Oxford
Program. Council of the
and Dublin.
UN

Was Chairman
of the Session
on Urban
Problems at the
UN Conference
Islamabad the Capital of Pakistan 
MAJOR WORKS
Many were the reasons for which Pakistan needed a new capital city. During the first stages of the life of the new State it was natural that Karachi
should have been selected as the capital, since it was a large city and a convenient centre of sea and air transportation. This was not, however, a
satisfactory solution from points of view of climate, tradition and the existing buildings, which were not adequate in number or to the standards required
by a capital. The layout and structure of the existing port city did not allow it to take on the functions of a modern capital. On the other hand, the influx
of refugees intensified the existing problems and created new ones.

The Developing Urban Detroit Area

  In January, 1965, The Detroit Edison Company began a five-year comprehensive study of Detroit and the adjacent area under its direct influence for the
purpose of analyzing, understanding and exploring its growth patterns, potentialities and future requirements. Research into the economic, social,
cultural and physical problems facing man in the Urban Detroit Area was first proposed by Walker L. Cisler, Chairman of the Board of The Detroit
Edison Company. As a result, Cisler asked Doxiadis Associates to undertake a thorough study of the Urban Detroit Area. Wayne State University was
also asked to participate because it would provide the opportunity to deploy the resources of students and faculty in the solution of urgent problems
facing Detroit and other cities.

Guanabara and Rio de Janeiro Master Plan

  By virtue of a contract signed in January 1964 with the State of Guanabara, Brazil, Doxiadis Associates undertook the preparation of a Master Plan and
Program for the development of the whole State of Guanabara, the former Federal Capital District of Brazil, including the city of Rio de Janeiro. The
duration of the study was two years .
Aspra Spitia. A New "Greek" City

  Aspra Spitia is a small settlement planned by Doxiadis Associates for the company "Aluminion de Greece" to house industrial workers
and personnel employed at its nearby aluminum plant. Aspra Spitia (modern Greek for "White Houses"), situated on the coast of the
Corinthian Gulf about one hour's drive from Delphi, was designed for a projected population of 5,000. The program proposed the
construction of a total of 1,100 dwellings, including one and two-storey houses, bachelor apartments, stores and shops, a customs house, a
school and recreational and other facilities.

The University of the Punjab

At the cross-roads of Central and Western Asia, the Punjab is one of the oldest cradles of culture. Having absorbed belligerent invasions
and cultural infiltrations, it finally established itself into a highly refined and culturally radiant centre for the whole country.

Doxiadis Office Building

  Doxiadis Associates employed some 400 persons, half of whom were engaged on various projects in a dozen countries whilst the
remaining half was attached to the central office. Until September 1958, the Athens based staff were scattered over four different buildings,
as it proved impossible to find a suitable and large enough place to embody them all. This led Doxiadis Associates to construct a building of
their own for their central office.
AWARDS

• Greek Military Cross, for his services during the war 1940-41 (1941)

• Order of the British Empire, for his activities in the National Resistance and for his
collaboration with the Allied Forces, Middle East (1945)

• Order of the Cedar of Lebanon, for his contribution to the development of Lebanon
(1958)

• Royal Order of the Phoenix for his contribution to the development of Greece (1960)

• Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize of the International Union of Architects (1963)

• Cali de Oro (Mexican Gold Medal) Award of the Society of Mexican Architects (1963)

• Award of Excellence, Industrial Designers Society of America (1965)

• Aspen Award for the Humanities (1966)

• Yugoslav Flag Order with Golden Wreath (1966).

 EKISTICS, the science of human settlements
"Ekistics starts with the premise that
• The term Ekistics was coined by Greek architect & urban planner Constantinos
human settlements are susceptible of
Apostolos Doxiadis in 1942.
systematic investigation”
• Applies to the settlements.
- Constantinos A. Doxiadis
• Includes regional, city, community planning and dwelling design. science of
human

SYNOPSIS: In order to create the cities of the future, we need to systematically

develop a science of human settlements.
• ANTHROP
This science, termed Ekistics, will take into consideration the principles man
OS
takes into account when building his settlements, as well as the evolution of
SOCIET
human settlements through history in terms of size and quality. NATURE
Y
• The target is to build the city of optimum size, that is, a city which respects
human dimensions.
NETWO
• Since there is no point in resisting development, we should try to accommodate RK
SHELLS

technological evolution and the needs of man within the same settlement.
Ekistics elements
 CLASSIFICATORY FRAMEWORK
ANTHROPOS - 1

ROOM - 2

HOUSE - 5

HAMLET - 40

VILLAGE - 250

NEIGHBOURHOOD - 1,500

SMALL POLIS - 10,000 ANTHROP

POLIS(CITY) - 75,000
OS
SMALL METROPOLIS - 5,00,000

METROPOLIS - 4 MILLION SOCIET

NATURE
SMALL MEGALOPOLIS - 25 MILLION Y
MEGALOPOLIS - 150 MILLION

SMALL EPEROPOLIS - 1,000 MILLION

EPEROPOLIS - 7,500 MILLION

ECUMENOPOLIS – 50,000 MILLION NETWO

SHELLS
RK

The first classificatory dimension, that of scale, ranges from The second classificatory dimension distinguishes five elements
• the individual, the room and the dwelling at the lower end, common to all settlements: nature, society, shells, networks and
• to the urban region, the urban continent and the world city at the culture.
other extreme
 EKISTIC
Doxiadis suggested a convenient way of organizing information and
mapping out the components and relationships of the elements within the
human settlements realm. He suggests to have a Classificatory System that
will be a methodology to establish the hierarchical structure and links among
elements of a system. LOGARITHMIC
SCALE
This figure is for Doxiadis'
ideal future ekistic units for
the year 2100 at which time he
estimated (in 1968) that Earth
would achieve zero population
growth at a population of
50,000,000,000 with human
civilization being powered by
fusion energy
 The Principles

• Maximization of man's potential contacts with the elements of nature (such as water When we build a city we must
and trees), with other people, and with the works of man (such as buildings and roads) answer the most basic question as
for any type of project: who is the
• Minimization of the effort required for the achievement of man's actual and potential
master whom we have to serve?
contacts.
- Constantinos A. Doxiadis
• Optimization of man's protective space, which means the selection of such a distance
from other persons, animals, or objects that he can keep his contacts with them (first
principle) without any kind of sensory or psychological discomfort

• Optimization of the quality of man's relationship with his environment, which consists
of nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of all sorts), and networks (ranging
from roads to telecommunications).

• 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
 DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT

VILLAGE in Pre Urban City in Beginning Urban area Early dynapolis

area

Dynapolis:-Industrial Era Metropolis:-Industrial Era Megalopolis Large political units

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT

Ecumenopolis :- Ecumenopolis :- Ecumenopolis :-

Settlement Of Future As Dead City As City of Life
One of the major problems is the great confusion created by a mixing of two
elements—of man and machine—within the cities of the present. This
confusion, which brings man and machine into conflict in all urban areas, has
been resolved satisfactorily in favor of the machine only for major lines of
transportation where man as a free agent has been completely separated from
machine and has been confined within it.
THEORETICAL POSTULATES
1. Settlements are created to satisfy human needs, including economic, social, political technological and cultural.

2. Their development is a continuous process and requires continuous investment

3. Settlements, or their parts, may die when they no longer satisfy the needs of the inhabitants.

4. The basic cell of human settlements is the ekistic unit which is the physical expression of community and that they are organizationally related
to each other in a hierarchical manner.

5. The form of the settlement results from the combination of central, linear and circumstantial forces.

• A centripetal force leads to forms of settlements conditioned by curves of equal effort which, if not otherwise constrained, appear as concentric
circles.

• Linear forces, such as major roads, lead to the creation of linear parts.

• Finally, settlement form is affected by conditional factors such as topography

6. Settlements grow in areas of greatest attraction and least resistance.

7. The form of the settlement, however, is not influenced only by such underlying laws but also by a tendency towards orderly patterns, including
easily expandable street grids.
 SPACE AND MORPHOLOGY IN EKISTICS
• The spatial needs of men are of primary importance for ekistics.

• Doxiadis observes that two complementary tasks of human settlements are

1. to keep people as isolated as possible with as short distance as possible between them.

2. to give people the chance for the greatest choice of interactions with other people and localities

The human needs pertaining to settlements are then expressed as "forces" affecting settlement form.

• Some forces are associated with centrality Thus, Doxiadis' analysis suggests that in order
• Others are associated with linearity, tending towards, or away from, a line which may be straight to understand settlements
or irregular • We must consider spatial morphology
• The underlying spatial patterns associated
• forces can also be associated with surfaces or with volumes.
with human activities and behaviour
The interplay of these forces is likened to a force mobile which comes to rest when settlement form
• as well as the functional and
and structure provide for a balance of intensities and directions.
organizational structure that joins the
former to the latter
DYNAMIC GROWTH: a critical issue

• Fast growth is seen as a distinguishing characteristic of modern settlements

• Growth, however, disrupts established settlement form, structure and function.

The city
The problem is , how to manage growth from the point of view of settlement
planning and design?

• Ekistics is intended as a science , one that may guide planning and design

To achieve the combination of stable units and a dynamically growing center, Doxiadis
proposes two complementary principles.

1. The settlement should be based on the aggregation of relatively independent sectors

The center
corresponding to human communities.

2. The center should grow linearly along a predetermined axis.

1. It implies the least destruction of the peripheral settlement fabric at any given
point in time. In spite of the continuing surgery, the dynamic city cannot be
relieved of pressures; with more roads, more functions move in
2. It implies that the location of the new center gradually shifts away from the old
center, thus assisting the preservation of the most important inheritance of the past
The Solution
Ideal growth should allow for the stability of the homogeneous
parts, the residential units that make up the settlement, while
letting the center grow with the least disruption of existing
form, structure and function

The centre has to grow within the built-up area, and the dynamic city is
choked to death.

If, in the same system as the preceding figure, we create new arteries and new
cities, we can avoid all problems of abnormal growth.
 Urban sectors, the effective modules of
settlements
• Urban sectors correspond to communities served by basic urban functions. Sector size and
density can vary.
• Widths up to about 2 km are advocated to make them suitable for pedestrians. This is based
on ekistic research has shown 1km or 10 to 12 minutes walk to be the ideal range for
pedestrian movement.
• The number of families can range from 500 to 3000.
• Sectors should not be traversed by major vehicular routes, but rather be surrounded by them.
• Their boundaries should protect them from transformations in other parts of the settlement.
Thus, the peripheral disposition of parks or other amenities for each sector is preferable.
• Doxiadis advocates sectors as the constitutive modules of large settlements that most closely
correspond to the human scale and balance the dynamic growth of the center and of special
functions.
• In complex settlements sectors would be arranged hierarchically around higher - order urban
centres
 PLANNING OF ISLAMABAD
The capital city of Pakistan

INTRODUCTION :
• After independence Pakistan realized the need of a capital city.
“Karachi” could have been selected first since it was a large city

and convenient centre for transportation.

This was however not a satisfactory solution
Because of :
1. The climatic conditions.
2. The layout and structure of the existing port city
which did not allow it to take on functions of a modern
capital.
3. Influx of refugees that intensifies the existing and
created new problems.

In February 1959 the President of Pakistan honoured

Dr. C.A.Doxiadis by naming him advisor to the special
commission for the location of the capital
As a result of the report submitted by Dr C.A.Doxiadis , that suggested two areas for
the new capital , One outside Karachi and Other to the north of Rawalpindi .
Out of both finally “ ISLAMABAD” was conceived as the new capital in 1959 , planned
by Doxiadis from 1959-1963 and started implementation in 1961.

THE CONCEPTION OF THE MASTER PLAN

The characteristics considered while planning Islamabad
1. SITE SELECTION :
The main factors for the selection of Islamabad by a process of scientific search
tempered by political considerations (Botka 1995) were :
1. Serves as centre of gravity.
2. Prevalent network connections such as existing Grand Trunk Road and
proposed United Nations Trans – Asian Highway.
3. Topographical conditions such as a foothill of Himalayas from 1600 – 1900 ft
above sea level was considered the main factor for site selection.
4. Close proximity to Rawalpindi that helped in providing access to existing
transport network, supply labour and accommodate early inhabitations.
2. THE LANDSCAPE PATTERN AND
HIGHWAYS :
The backbone of Islamabad Metropolitan Area Master
Plan is formed by the two highways ;
“ Islamabad highway and Murree highway “
the alignment of which was dictated by the natural
landscape patterns.
Two more highways , by passing the existing town of
Rawalpindi have been proposed.
Thus a system of four highways becomes a basic step for The main highways
metropolitan area and these axes form a big square .

3. DYNAMETROPOLIS :
Based on the principles of Dynametropolis – Dynamic
Metropolis which consisted of Islamabad and Rawalpindi,
it was proposed that :
“ The cities of ISLAMABAD and RAWALPINDI will
develop as twin cities serving each other in
complementary ways and will expand dynamically
towards south west along with their centres “
Islamabad would serve as administrative and cultural
head and Rawalpindi as industrial and commercial head.
The central functions of Islamabad and Rawalpindi
 4. GRID IRON PATTERN :
The city was conceived into grid iron patterns
developed into “ 2km by 2km sectors segregated by
the hierarchy of wide principal roads “
The sectors were used for distinct land uses such
as residential, educations, commercial and
administrative.
Housing is provided in grid iron pattern sectors on
disciplined hierarchy of communities according to
their income.
“ In the square grid of sectors , four communities
clustered around an enlarged shopping centre.”

9
 THE LAYOUT PLAN
1. ORGANISATION:
Each sector (community class V) of Islamabad is “
self contained and self supported with respect to
everyday life”. It is divided into three of four sub
communities (class IV) by income groups of
occupants.
At the centre are civic centre, containing all types of
civic, shopping and business activities. Each of these
class IV communities is further divided into several Interrelation of functions within the administrative area
community class III which are then divided into
community class II.

2. HIERARCHY OF FUNCTIONS:
Adequate space provided for buildings serving
certain function at various levels, in accordance with
number of people served by these buildings. In each
sector of class V community there is space for three
or four secondary schools, each for a class IV. There
are three or four primary schools per class III and a Fig18. Structure of communities
kindergarten or children’s playground in each
community class II. Same hierarchy is maintained for
health, recreation, sports activities, etc.
 A community class III of about 3,000 people
A community class IV for about 12,000 people
 3. LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE:
“The main feature of the landscape near Islamabad is
the many ravines that cut the fields from north to
south”. The ground continuously undulates in one
direction, challenging the architectural treatment of
buildings and green spaces. This natural landscape
has been fully respected when designing the layout of
each sector and green spaces have been fully
exploited by locating such functions as schools,
gardens, parks and playgrounds next to them.
Climatic conditions have been also taken into account
Green areas in community class V for 40,000 people
with orientations for the purpose of insulation and
taking advantage of the prevailing winds.
4. SOCIAL PLANNING:
The homes vary very considerably for the types of
inhabitants and total intermixing would cause
difficulties in physical planning and also cause social
problems. As a principle a gradual integration was
sought, both to help the lower income people to
mature and to assure the comfort of higher-income
classes.
Distribution of incomes in a community class IV
4. FACILITIES :
1. WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM:
The water supply system was designed by
Doxiadis Associates. Water is now being tapped
from two springs in Nurpur and Saidpur, but it is
planned to dam the Swan river to bring water to
the town by gravity. Water storage tanks, filtration
plants and similar works have been built and the Water softening installations at Nurpur spring
distribution system is now under construction.
2. SEWAGE AND DRAINAGE:
Sewage and drainage networks are being
constructed by the Capital Development Authority.
A sewage treatment plant, designed in
collaboration with Dorr-Oliver, is under
construction. Sewage aeration tank in Islamabad during
construction
3. ROAD CONSTRUCTION:
The first roads under construction are sections of
the two main highways having a with of two lanes,
which is sufficient for the needs of first stage
development. In the addition to the two lanes,
there is a ten foot shoulder on either sides Intersection of Islamabad and Muree highways
under construction
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• http:// www.doxiadis.org
• http:// www.ekistics.org
• http://www.goodreads.com/quotes