Posted on: Monday, January 3, 2005
Harris not lacking for career options
| • | Hannemann sworn in as Honolulu's 12th mayor |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Former Mayor Jeremy Harris may not have a future in Hawai'i politics, but he has many opportunities available in academic and international development circles.
Harris has traveled the globe over the past year to speak about Honolulu's accomplishments and his views on sustainable development for cities.
He'll be on the road over the next few weeks for more speaking engagements, and says he's exploring several career options.
"I've had a couple of offers to be a visiting professor at a number of universities around the world," he said. "I would still live here, but that would involve some travel during different periods of the year."
There are several other opportunities, but no firm decisions have been made, said Harris, whose 10-year tenure as mayor ended yesterday with the swearing-in of successor Mufi Hannemann.
"What I want to do is to be able to basically stay in my field, which is environmental, sustainability and cities, and I'm looking for a way to be able to make an impact with cities in the Asia-Pacific region on sustainability," he said.
Many Asian nations are growing rapidly and are following outdated transportation, energy and industrial development models that will cause tremendous pollution, he warns.
"We're looking at global environmental impacts that are perhaps irreversible," he said. "And it all has to do with cities, how they run cities. If the cities get it right, then we'll be able to get through these problems."
By 2015, the world will have 24 megacities each with more than 10 million residents, most in Asia, Harris said.
"We're looking at such a huge amount of urbanization that's going to happen in the next 15 to 20 years, that they have the ability to do it right, they have the chance to do it right. It's a lot harder for us, because we did it wrong and now we're having to try to go back and try to retrofit a city that's already in existence, and that's been tough."
He said it was extremely disappointing to hear a Chinese mayor say at a recent international conference that he planned to spend $1 billion building freeways over the next year.
"He was so proud and he was modeling it after the great American city of Houston, and he was measuring his success by how many square meters of asphalt per person in his city he was able to pour," Harris said.
"It was heartbreaking," he said. "Instead of putting the $1 billion into a transit system and building this new city around public transit, and not building in the need for fossil-fuel automobiles, he was doing just the opposite. And he thought he was doing good, following one of the great models like Houston or L.A. — the worst-designed cities in the world."
The future of American cities — and the economic development that feeds them — is changing, and O'ahu can be ahead of the curve, Harris said.
"We're at a dramatic time of transition," he said. "As the baby boomers such as me are retiring, for every two of us that retire, there's only one from Generation X that's going to take our place. So there's a very limited workforce coming in to replace the workforce that's on its way to retirement."
O'ahu's challenge will be to retain and attract enough skilled workers to keep the economy strong, Harris said.
"The big competition in the days ahead is going to be not just for tourists, but it's actually going to be for talent, for workforce, to keep our people here and to bring other people here to fill the jobs that are going to require talented people," he said.
The nation will be 10 million workers short in the next 15 years, so competition will be sharp, Harris said.
And young adults are not necessarily moving to cities because of the jobs there. They're moving for the quality of life, he said. That includes exciting nightlife, vibrant cultural events, good restaurants, reliable public transportation, safe streets and clean parks, Harris said.
"They choose the city, and then the businesses come and locate in those cities, because they're after the talent," he said. "That's a whole new model, a whole new paradigm. And what that means is going out and trying to attract businesses, like cities used to do, doesn't work anymore. What you have to do is you have to build a high quality of life in your city."
Employers will gravitate to cities that attract a skilled workforce, he said.
"That's one of the reasons why we have worked so hard to build ... the image of Honolulu as a vibrant, cosmopolitan, environmentally sensitive city — (a) great place to live," Harris said.
"The purpose of all this effort has been to position us in the right place to meet these economic development challenges that are coming down the pike."
Reach Johnny Brannon at 525-8070 or jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
