Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 1, 1 January 2023 — A vision for OHA's Land at Hakuone [ARTICLE]

A vision for OHA's Land at Hakuone

By Ryan Kawailani ūzawa r r V ive, work, play." It's a mantra chanted by ™ ^ I the enlightened civil engineer, the stacI cato slogan of every modern developer, M the three magic ingredients of an ideal community. Residential, commercial, and recreation - the latter an array of amenities to improve quality of life. The phrase "live, work, play" was certainly the pitch ffom the developers of Kaka'ako from the continent who audaciously retained the "village" brand to describe their gleaming glass towers - eaeh given an elegant, atmospheric Hawaiian name - and their increasingly claustrophobic urban canyons. Today, the Howard Hughes Corporation is only 10 skyscrapers in to its 60-acre "master-planned community in the heart of Honolulu." Glossy sales brochures still say

"live, work, play," painting a cozy picture of urban living for the lucky owners of some 30,000 luxury condos. But insofar as any sense of "village" living has developed among its luxury residences, it certainly bears no resemblance to the close-knit, nurturing, sustainable kaiāulu of ancient Hawai'i. The "live, work, play" vision for a plaee is a clever and compelling one. The key question is: a plaee for whom? What could be For the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), "village" is not a marketing term. And OHA's vision for Hakuone - the name given to its future development at Kaka'ako Makai - is one grounded in genuine Native Hawaiian values and dedicated to creating a plaee that will improve the quality of life for all Native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiians were living sustainably long before the first Western urban planner picked up a peneil. Community and 'ohana were built into everything, from the complete ecosystem of an ahupua'a - whieh provided everything needed to thrive - to the concept of a kīpuka, a cultural oasis, where the traditions and teachings of our

ancestors could be shared and celebrated. This is the vision of Hakuone: a uniquely Hawaiian oasis in urban Honolulu that welcomes all people, from keiki to kūpuna, with enriching cultural, recreational and educational puhlie uses. And it is ideally located amidst Honolulu's most diverse and vibrant communities, putting everything loeal residents need within reach. OHA and its partners want to create a thoughtful, mixed-use urban village built by and for locals. Although the master plan is still in the very early stages of development, every component will emphasize education and the perpetuation of our culture - including respect for the land, the oeean and its resources. For Hakuone, a Hawaiian sense of plaee is not a slogan, but a deeply held ideal. Imagine a Hawaiian cultural center featuring practice and performance space, a commercial kitchen, and space for large gatherings. Farmers' markets, a fish market, restaurants, and stores featuring Hawaiian products. Art galleries, workshops, and maker spaces. A medical elinie and other heahh care facilities that include traditional SEE HAKU0NE ON PAGE 11