Rebuilding the Culture of Place: A Study in the Potentials of Neighborhood Transit Oriented Development

Abstract

We are embarking on projects that will change the future of O'ahu. Among them include the mass transit project that will not directly serve many communities across the island and will also affect the character and experience of communities. When looking at transit oriented development, the focus is typically on a small radius within the station area. It fails to look into providing a seamless connection between other community districts at the neighborhood level. To remedy this detachment, the goal of this project is to create a subsystem that will identify transit corridors and the needs/desires of a community in order to create a dynamic system. The project will also identify the qualities of a neighborhood, by reinforcing that the fabric of a community hasn’t been lost, but rather, built upon. There must be a better understanding of what transit-oriented development (TOD) projects can and should accomplish, how goals must be aligned, and what the decision-making and development process entails. By using Kunia as an example, this model could help other communities within the district facing the same circumstances.