Lack of trees is raising the temperature for downtown pedestrians
By Jack Sidener
Professor at the University of Hawai'i School of Architecture
Thirty years ago, I discovered Lewis Mumford's brilliant little pamphlet in the Hawai'i State Library, and read it outside under the nearby kapok tree. Balding then, and walking most places, I was sensitive to areas lacking shade trees.
Today, balder (follically challenged, some say) but still walking most places, I have to report that Honolulu still has a street environment hostile to all but vehicle-contained life. It is not pleasant to walk from Chinatown to the Convention Center, as I did the other afternoon, and it should be. Sidewalks are cluttered with poles and newsracks.
The gold building across from the Bank of Hawai'i is still reflecting glare and heat into what should be a pool of shade. In the downtown area, it seems as if architects of the 1970s and 1980s were more concerned with the tops of buildings than with the bottoms, where people congregate and socialize. Among the few trees, palms predominate. They're attractive, but provide little shade.
Near 'Iolani Palace, I did discover some old friends: the kukui tree, where a man in a wheelchair sat in the shade before venturing over to the YWCA. The kapok tree, with three tourists resting by the giant elephant foot before scooting to the great banyan's shadow pool and then on to the Capitol Building, where the tiger claw tree shines as if it were electric.
Because the utilities along Kapi'olani Boulevard have been undergrounded, the Pink Shower trees have been able to stretch out a bit, but here and there the utility and cable companies are still taking giant bites out of the tree crowns.
I wouldn't dare walk on Kapi'olani toward Mo'ili'ili, where no one seems to have planted a new tree for 50 years.
Glare is the most prominent feature: glare from cars, glare from the pavement, glare from the sidewalks, glare unmodified by shade.
The temperature for pedestrians, who may be defined as people without surrounding air-conditioned capsules, is half again as high as for vehicle riders, and probably 25 percent higher than it would be with a reasonable number of street trees.
I would estimate that in Kaka'ako, only 5 percent of the original land is capable of growing anything. The rest is rooftop or asphalt, which radiates heat and prevents rain from seeping into the soil. (Even though I wear a broad-brimmed hat, I am sunburned from the reflection off the sidewalk.)
Urban designers and landscape architects working in many of O'ahu's suburban developments, such as Waikele and Mililani, have sometimes planted street trees profusely.
I'm sure that central Honolulu's planners haven't stopped making plans for street trees, but the problem is that their plans are gathering dust on the shelves of the City Council.
One of the oldest and dustiest reports made to the county Board of Supervisors dates back to 1906.
In that report, consultant Charles Mulford Robinson proposed requiring the planting of trees on private property, thus "shading sidewalks by throwing over them the protection of the garden," and requiring the utility companies to put their wires under ground, "with the extra advantage of rescuing trees from mutilation by linemen."
It's apparent that 60 years after Lewis Mumford wrote his pamphlet, Honolulu can still be accused of taking urban design in a somewhat casual fashion. The slow economy can't be an excuse — wise civic leaders know that slow times afford an opportunity to reflect and plan for the future.
This is a time to ask ourselves if there are any great streets in Honolulu, and if not, how can we create them?
Are there any that the urban-design writer Allan Jacobs might include in a revised edition of his important book, "Great Streets," places where "public and personal life flow together in comfort?"
Jack Sidener, FAIA, is a professor at the University of Hawai'i School of Architecture. He was an associate professor at UH from 1970-1975 and practiced architecture and urban design in Hawai'i at that time. He has recently returned from several years in Hong Kong, where he was professor of architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and chief architect and urban designer with Bechtel International, designing stations for a new urban passenger railway between central Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China.
