Ecumenopolis

An Ecumenopolis is a planet-wide city, a single continuous urban expanse that blankets the entire surface of a world. These vast metropolises represent the apex of urban development and interstellar civilization within many universes of the Continuum Universes, including Galaxa and Lethurèa.

Overview

Ecumenopoleis (plural) are characterized by multi-layered architecture and deep-rooted infrastructure that has accumulated over centuries or millennia. What appears as a seamless cityscape from orbit is, in truth, a vertical tapestry of ancient ruins, forgotten utility grids, submerged transit hubs, and modern megastructures stacked one atop the other.

While their foundations may have been laid during a planet’s early colonial era or native golden age, over time these cities grow to encompass entire continents, eventually knitting together until no true wilderness remains. In many mythologies, such worlds are considered living entities, their constant hum of life echoing the heartbeat of their planetary core.

Economy and Self‑Sufficiency

Despite their outward reliance on galactic trade networks, Ecumenopoleis are self‑sufficient. They import only raw materials—ore, organics, or energy nodes—while processing and manufacturing everything else internally. Massive agro‑domes, hydroponic skyscrapers, and reclamation centers ensure food production and recycling remain uninterrupted. Entire strata of subterranean subsurface mining complexes reach deep into the crust, extracting minerals to feed ever-hungry industrial districts.

Architectural Layers

Primary Surface: Towering spires, habitation stacks, and mag‑lev transit arteries dominate the skyline.

Mid-Layers: Beneath the neon glow, older strata host abandoned sectors, repurposed slums, and labyrinthine service corridors.

Deep Infrastructure: Far below lie reactor vaults, mining shafts, geothermal turbines, and ancient catacombs whose origins predate recorded history.

Cultural Significance

Ecumenopoleis often symbolize the triumph of civilization over nature, though this ideal is not without cost. Legends in certain universes warn of spirits or forgotten gods entombed beneath the lowest strata, their whispers still influencing events above. In Lethurèa, it is said the hum of an Ecumenopolis resonates with the Vistrum, allowing distant kin to feel the pulse of the collective. In Galaxa, such worlds often serve as hubs for Guildworlds or political cores of sprawling empires.

Notable Examples

Neo Terra Prime II — A central hub in the Galaxa universe, blending high diplomacy with undercity intrigue.

Skadrolis — In Lethurèa, a sacred Ecumenopolis built atop ancient Sherok ruins and still patrolled by psionic sentinels.

Maliki III — Another world from Galaxa Maliki III is built ontop of hundreds of thousands of Galaxan Years of Sluggo infrastructure.

Trivia

Entire subcultures thrive in forgotten lower levels, speaking dialects and practicing customs unknown on the surface.

Some Ecumenopoleis have weathered planetary cataclysms, their shielded cores preserving ancient archives and starship drydocks.

Urban legends speak of ghost sectors—whole layers sealed off, rumored to house experiments or dormant weapons from eras past.