Natural
Beauty, Redevelopment, Economic Contributions Singled Out
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| Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki from above. |
The American Planning Association (APA)
today announced the designation of Kalakaua Avenue as one of 10 Great Streets
for 2013. Each year during National Community Planning Month, APA’s Great
Places in America program names 30 exemplary streets, neighborhoods and public
spaces to highlight the role planning and planners play in adding value to communities,
including fostering economic growth and jobs.
APA singled out Kalakaua Avenue for its
significant contributions to both local and state economies, the use of plans
and planning to guide a years-long redevelopment of the street making it more pedestrian-friendly,
the connections to Hawaii’s rich cultural heritage, and preliminary steps by
the state enabling localities to begin adapting to inevitable sea-level changes
that will take place during the next 40 to 90 years.
“What other street takes you from a Tiffany store to a world-class
beach along wide sidewalks with an ocean breeze,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk
Caldwell. “Kalakaua Avenue is the face of Hawaii for millions of tourists from
around the world. Former Mayor Jeremy Harris’s vision turned this urban
thoroughfare into the lovely tropical island stroll lined with coconut and
shower trees that our visitors and residents deserve. Our city crews work
hard every day to keep it looking great. I thank APA for recognizing
Kalakaua Avenue as one of the classic public streets in the United States,”
Mayor Caldwell added.
“Three things define Waikiki -- its
white-sand beaches, the Diamond Head volcanic tuff cone, and Kalakaua Avenue,”
said APA Chief Executive Officer Paul Farmer, FAICP. “Based on tourism-only revenue generated
along the avenue, few if any other streets in the country can compare. As an
economic dynamo, Kalakaua Avenue and Waikiki present planners and others in
Hawaii a major challenge in terms of adapting to sea level rise without
sacrificing the area’s beauty or appeal to visitors,” he added.
Setting the stage for Kalakaua Avenue’s
tremendous and long-term success was construction of the Ala Wai Canal. Completed in 1928, it allowed the area’s rice
paddies and wetlands to be drained, which made Waikiki’s developable.
The high-rise hotel building boom along
Kalakaua Avenue and Waikiki reached its peak during the late 1960s and early
1970s, leading the city and county of Honolulu to adopt the Waikiki Special
Design District Ordinance in 1974 to control building heights, prevent overbuilding
and manage development.
Subsequently the city developed a plan
in the early 1990s aimed to make the experience of walking along Kalakaua
Avenue “feel more like being in a park” rather than on a densely urbanized
street, according to former Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris. Between 1994 and
2004, the city and county spent more than $100 million on Kalakaua Avenue
including new sidewalks, landscaping, walkways, historic-style street lighting,
street furnishings and plazas. Also
added was the Waikiki Historic Trail with 23 sites, many of which are located
on or within steps of Kalakaua Avenue.
Shaping Kalakaua’s future will be how
the city, county and state address flooding in the Ala Wai watershed and sea
level rise as a result of climate change. A plan under development by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating various options to protect Waikiki and Kalakaua
Avenue from a 100-year flood.
Meanwhile, the city and state are in the
early stages of planning for adaptation to sea level rise in the Waikiki area
including Kalakaua Avenue. Last year Governor Neil Abercrombie signed into law
Senate Bill 2745 that amends the Hawaii State Planning Act to include priority
guidelines addressing adaptation to climate change. The amendment recognizes
that sea level rise in Hawaii will occur and that adaptation strategies must be
adopted.
APA’s Great Streets, Great Neighborhoods
and Great Public Spaces feature unique and authentic characteristics that have
evolved from years of thoughtful and deliberate planning by residents,
community leaders and planners. The 2013 Great Places have many things
Americans say are important to their “ideal community” including locally owned
businesses, transit, neighborhood parks, and sidewalks. They illustrate how the
foresight of planning fosters communities of lasting value.
The nine other APA 2013 Great Streets
are North and South Walnut Street, Milford, DE; Palafox Street, Pensacola, FL;
Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM; C Street, Virginia City, NV; Market Street,
Corning, NY; Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA; Broadway, Jim Thorpe,
PA; The Strand, Galveston, TX; and West Beverley Street, Staunton, VA.
For more information about these
streets, as well as APA’s top 10 Great Neighborhoods and top 10 Great Public
Spaces for 2013 and previous years, visit www.planning.org/greatplaces. For more about National Community Planning
Month taking place throughout October visit www.planning.org/ncpm.
The American Planning Association is an independent,
not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development
of vital communities. APA and
its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are
dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning --
physical, economic and social -- so as to create communities that offer better
choices for where and how people work and live. Members of APA help create
communities of lasting value and encourage civic leaders, business interests
and citizens to play a meaningful role in creating communities that enrich
people's lives. APA has offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Ill. For more
information, visit www.planning.org.
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