The Importance of Open-Space Value for Land Use Policy in Hawaii

Abstract

It was estimated that the open-space value of 15,000 acres of former sugarcane land on Oahu would be worth more than $21 million to residents of the island, based on a 1995 survey. Only 6 percent of the Oahu residents surveyed preferred a development use over an open-space use. A formal method of accounting for open-space value needs to be developed, or more land may be zoned urban than is socially desirable.