Ecumenopolis

{{Short description|Hypothetical planet-spanning city}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} [[File:Trantor-Coruscant.jpg|right|thumb|A depiction of a planetwide city, which the artist considers suitable for both Trantor, a fictional ecumenopolis from Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire, and Coruscant in the ''Star Wars'' franchise.]]

'''Ecumenopolis''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{Wikt-lang|grc|οἰκουμένη}}'' ({{grc-transl|οἰκουμένη}})|the inhabited world||''{{Wikt-lang|grc|πόλις}}'' ({{grc-transl|πόλις}})|city}}; {{lit|world city}}; {{plural form|'''ecumenopolises''' or '''ecumenopoleis'''}}) is the hypothetical concept of a planetwide city. It is primarily known as a stock setting in science fiction, but has also received serious consideration in theoretical city planning and futurist concepts.

==Description== The word was invented in 1962 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis to represent the idea that, in the future, urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse, and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a progression from the current urbanization, population growth, transport and human networks.<ref name="KeepingUp">{{cite book |first1 = Pavle |last1 = Stamenovic |first2 = Dunja |last2 = Predic |first3 = Davor |last3 = Eres |name-list-style = amp |chapter = Transparency of Scale: Geographical Information Program (Google Earth) and the View from Beyond |editor1-first = Eva |editor1-last = Vaništa Lazarević |editor2-first = Milena |editor2-last = Vukmirović |editor3-first = Aleksandra |editor3-last = Krstić-Furundžić |editor4-first = Aleksandra |editor4-last = Đukić |title = Keeping Up with Technologies to Improve Places |publisher = Cambridge Scholars Publishing |year = 2015 |location = Newcastle upon Tyne |isbn = 978-1-4438-7739-8 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UJ_WCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |page = 44 |access-date = May 21, 2020 |archive-date = November 6, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211106055133/https://books.google.com/books?id=UJ_WCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |url-status = live }}</ref> According to Doxiadis, it was the fifteenth level of ekistic units and the most significant one as the uppermost echelon of the classification.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|pages=210}}</ref> This concept was already current in science fiction in 1942, with Trantor in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sq8NAQAAIAAJ&q=all+the+land+surface+of+Trantor+was+a+single+city ''Foundation''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106055139/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sq8NAQAAIAAJ&q=all+the+land+surface+of+Trantor+was+a+single+city&dq=all+the+land+surface+of+Trantor+was+a+single+city&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwxq3psvzbAhUHjlQKHZ51BXkQ6AEISTAG |date=November 6, 2021 }} By Isaac Asimov, page 9</ref> When made public, Doxiadis' idea of ecumenopolis seemed "close to science fiction", but today is "surprisingly pertinent" according to geography researchers Pavle Stamenovic, Dunja Predic and Davor Eres,<ref name="KeepingUp"/> especially as a consequence of globalization.

Doxiadis also created a scenario based on the traditions and trends of urban development of his time, predicting at first a European '''eperopolis''' ("continent city") which would be based on the area between London, Paris, Rhine-Ruhr and Amsterdam.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doxiadis |first1=C.A. |title=Economics and the ekistic grid |journal=Ekistics |date=1975 |volume=40 |issue=236 |pages=1–4 |jstor=43618525 |issn=0013-2942}}</ref> In 2008, ''Time'' magazine coined ''Nylonkong'' to link New York City, London, and Hong Kong as the eperopolis of the Americas, Euro-Africa and Asia-Pacific respectively.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704398,00.html|title=A Tale Of Three Cities|last=Elliott|first=Michael|date=January 17, 2008|magazine=Time|access-date=November 11, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|archive-date=November 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111161144/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704398,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

Before the term had been created, the concept had been previously discussed. The American religious leader Thomas Lake Harris (1823–1906) mentioned city-planets in his verses, and science fiction author Isaac Asimov used the city-planet Trantor as the setting of some of his ''Foundation'' novels.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chu |first1=Seo-Young |title=Do Metaphors Dream of Literal Sleep? A Science-Fictional Theory of Representation |date=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=100}}</ref>

In science fiction, the ecumenopolis has become a frequent topic and was popularized in 1999 by the fictional city planet Coruscant in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, which is the capital of the Galactic Republic (later Empire) and home to the Jedi Order.<ref>{{cite news |title=How Star Wars' Coruscant Became The Planet-Wide City Of Your Nightmares |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1228950/how-star-wars-coruscant-became-the-planet-wide-city-of-your-nightmares/ |agency=Slash Film|last1=Tinnin|first1=Drew|date=March 15, 2023}}</ref> Other ecumenopolises feature in ''Star Wars'' media, including Anoat, Nar Shaddaa and Taris.{{cn|date=January 2026}}

In ''Dune'', the Harkonnens' home world of Giedi Prime is a heavily polluted ecumenopolis.{{cn|date=January 2026}}

In ''Transformers'', the alien world of Cybertron is often depicted as an ecumenopolis, possibly due to the mechanical nature of the planet and inhabitants.

The concept is depicted in the video game ''Stellaris'', where players are given the option of transforming planets into ecumenopolises.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stellaris: Best Origins Explained and Ranked |url=https://www.thegamer.com/stellaris-best-origins-facts-ranked/ |agency=The Gamer}}</ref>

A central setting in the tabletop wargame ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a portrayal of Earth in the far future, where it is described as having been transformed into a vast, Gothic-style ecumenopolis.{{cn|date=January 2026}} The ecumenopolis contains multiple continent-scale districts housing different branches of society and government. It is the focus of the "Siege of Terra" storyline of the wider ''Horus Heresy'' novel series.

In ''Magic: the Gathering'', the plane of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis.<ref>{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=Beilman |date=2020-06-21 |title=Dungeons & Dragons: Ravnica, the Worldwide City, Explained |url=https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-dragons-ravnica-explained/ |work=Comic Book Resources}}</ref>

DC Comics continuity features Darkseid's extra-dimensional home planet of Apokolips, often depicted as a hellish world covered entirely in industrial sprawl to feed Darkseid's brutal empire.<ref>{{cite book |title=DC Comics: Anatomy of a Metahuman |date=2018 |publisher=Insight Editions |page=100}}</ref>

The manga and film of ''Blame!'' by Tsutomu Nihei is set in a far future in which Earth has become the ruins of planet-covering city, which is suggested to be so large that it has consumed most of the Solar System as well, it may also be along the lines of a hollow-world or dyson shell.{{cn|date=January 2026}} Some of his other works also take place in this same setting.

==See also== {{div col|colwidth=20em}} * Arcology * Artificial planet * Conurbation * Ecumene * Ekistics * Megacity * Megalopolis * Megastructure * Merger (politics) * Metropolis * Principles of intelligent urbanism * Urban sprawl * World government {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{wiktionary-inline|ecumenopolis}} * {{cite book |chapter-url = http://www.doxiadis.org/Downloads/ecumenopolis%20tommorow%27s%20city.pdf |chapter = Ecumenopolis: Tomorrow's City |first = Constantinos |last = Doxiadis |title = Britannica Book of the Year |year = 1968}}

{{Urban pop list}} {{Science fiction}} Category:Fictional megastructures Category:Fictional planets Category:Fictional populated places Category:Proposed arcologies Category:Types of cities Category:Urban studies and planning terminology