ECUMENOPOLIS tells the story of an Istanbul family living in the gecekondu (the poorer areas), who are forcibly relocated into new tower blocks of social housing on the outskirts of the city. In doing so, this documentary makes some trenchant points about Istanbul's rapid growth over the last two decades, as well as the spread of private enterprise, which has led to the city's transformation. Skyscrapers dominate the skyline; new building projects abound. However the film argues, not without justification, that planning issues have been forgotten in the single-minded pursuit of money: many of today's tower- blocks will become tomorrow's slums, with inadequate drainage and other facilities. More importantly, the new builds have created alienated lifestyles, each family confined to their little concrete box. For the gecekondu families faced with forced relocation, there is the added problem of being unable to keep up with the monthly payments for their new apartments. ECUMENOPOLIS offers a chilling vision of a city that has exhausted its natural, physical and spatial resources, that nonetheless keeps on growing, apparently without restriction.
