Honolulu ~ one of "the world’s 10 most liveable cities" according to Intl. Herald Tribune
Honolulu has been named one of the world’s "Ten Most Liveable Cities" by the International Herald Tribune. It is the only US city on the list. Its company includes Helsinki, Tokyo, Copenhagen, and Madrid. I have to say that I’m a little shocked that Honolulu would be named in this list. I love it as a city, but I don’t think that it’s one of the world’s top "most liveable." While Honolulu’s setting is definitely one of the most livable in the world, the functioning city itself is no paradise.
Many of the improvements that have been made to the city in recent years were thanks to former Mayor Jeremy Harris who finished serving in 2004, including the urban design improvements that he set out to make in Waikiki. He was a celebrated mayor, but mostly outside of Honolulu. The current mayor, Mufi Hannemann campaigned as someone opposite of Harris, saying that he would focus on basic city services, which he claimed were ignored by Harris. I wish that he had take the approach of saying that he would focus on both city services and well-planed design interventions.
Mayor Harris took up some of the most important issues of culture, heritage, and sustainability in Hawaii and deserves more credit than Hannemann has extended to him. Although, Hannemann has a very delicate political situation because he must cater to both tourism and the local population, which are often at odds with one another. Hannemann has to make noticeable improvements for the city’s residents, but at the same time must delicately but boldly plan for future hoards of visitors.
Overall, however, traffic, water, and housing costs are the three biggest long-term issues that must be addressed for both residents and visitors. Honolulu has the same sprawl and traffic areas as other cities. It is also part of the first state in the nation to have put into place a statewide development and conservation plan.
As an island city in an important ecological treasure, it has reached its spatial limits before other US cities, and so it will deal with the accompanying issues before others. No other major US city is quite as constrained as Honolulu. Hanneman should take the opportunity to actually live up to the reputation of the city’s setting as one of the most livable in the world.
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Posted on October 25, 2007
Filed Under Urbanity |
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