The ahupua‘a aligns the city with the island's ecology as the primary organizing element of urbanism.





The ahupua‘a resource continuum as the fundamental organizing unit in Hawaiian land-use planning, development, and management. It is inspired by the traditional ahupua‘a, which fostered integration between dwelling, food production, leadership structures, and ecosystem.

Major components of city ahupua'a include:
+ Resource Mapping
+ Integrated Land-Use
+ Ecological Information & Resource Potential Zones
+ Geopolitical Resource Management Districts


RESOURCE MAPPING


Resource mapping provides the information base necessary to realign land-use and political districts with the watershed, while optimizing resource management. It reveal patterns, synergies, and performance metrics through the cross comparison of real-time environmental data. An interactive database aggregates the information, ensuring public access to a resource that informs decisions across the spectrum of activities within the ahupua'a—from political ecology and resource generation to building design and business management.


INTEGRATED LAND-USE


Integrating urban, agriculture, and conservation land-uses represents the evolution from a single-function reductionist approach, to a multi-function systems approach that views the watershed as a whole greater than the sum of its parts. A multifunctional approach reestablishes the traditional connectivity between dwelling, food production, and ecosystem in a contemporary context, utilizing advancements in technology to intermix and consolidate a diversity of functions. Conservation is inclusive of the entire watershed, while layers of agricultural and urban uses overlap conservation in a way to enhance, rather than disable, ecological cycles of renewal. The intensity of this integration varies between locale, in response to sociopolitical and environmental demographics. This land-use strategy rebuilds the relationships between where people live, work, play, cultivate food, regenerate resources, and conserve the ecosystem. The result is the long-term reduction of the developed footprint, while improving the effectiveness of transportation networks, regenerative resource infrastructures, ecosystem health, and ultimately island self-sufficiency. Integrated land-use is formally organized into two major districts: the ili (development district) and kīpuka (ecological corridor).


DISTRICT BOUNDARIES




The ahupua'a resource continuum expands upon current zoning and green-building regulations that (1) limit the footprint of an individual building to a percentage of its total site area, (2) set minimum distances between building sites and critical ecological areas or habitats, (3) maximize open space and reduce imperviousness, and (4) avoid development in areas prone to flood or tsunami. Defining parameters include:

MAXIMUM FOOTPRINT: Development is kept under 20-40% of the total area within the ahupua'a ecosystem.

RIPARIAN SETBACKS / CONSERVATION EASEMENTS: Development is kept 100 to 330 ft. (30-100 m) setbacks from streams, shorelines, springs, wetlands, forests, habitats.

Incentive to redevelop/revitalize would be given to neighborhoods within the district. Over time, restrictions would be placed on areas that fall outside of the district, so they may eventually be reclaimed as a public resource for ecosystem restoration.


RECLAMATION ZONE & LAND TRUST


The reclamation zone reclaims the economic value of the ecosystem as a public natural resource. This is the result of a long-term strategy for restoring the health and productivity of forests, streams, shorelines, and reefs. As the optimization zone is redeveloped or revitalized to accommodate a higher population density, areas within the ecological corridor are reclaimed. This is made possible through a public land trust, established for each ahupua‘a. Structures of significant cultural, architectural, or historical value are either relocated or preserved as an educational / civic resource. Other structures are disassembled for reuse in new construction, expanding the market for reused materials recovery and refurbishing.


GEOPOLITICAL MANAGEMENT DISTRICT


The realignment of political boundaries with the watershed rebuilds the relationships between leadership, constituencies, and resource management. Considerations for districting expands beyond population demographics to also include resource capacities and multidisciplinary advisory boards for each watershed to safeguard the best interests of the community and ecosystem. The consistency between watershed and leadership boundaries ensures more connectivity across the decisions made throughout community, municipal, and state governments.