Prepared by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning

This 34-page issue book examines the problem of homelessness on the island of O'ahu and presents three approaches to dealing with it.

The approaches include:

Approach One says there are neither sufficient housing opportunities nor shelters to meet the needs of homeless individuals who reside in the Waikiki area.  Housing is viewed as the critical component to curbing homelessness, regardless of whether one believes housing is a right or homeless individuals are an eyesore.

Approach Two says that individuals in Waikiki became or remain homeless because of disabiliites, addiction, economic difficulties, and educational shortcomings.  Approach Two calls for greater funding, more outreach workers, and a more diversified approach to providing the Waikiki homeless population with needed mental, physical, employment, educational, and related forms of assistance.

Approach Three says weak or unenforced laws perpetuate and increase the incidence of homelessness in Waikiki.  Approach Three calls for tougher vagrancy laws, greater enforcement of existing laws, and adoption of design strategies that discourage loitering and panhandling.

Contributors to the issue book (this project was part of a University of Hawaii at Manoa Masters of Urban and Regional Planning practicum in fall of 2006, and conudcted for the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association) included: Lori Baker, Mike Dahilig, Megan Johnson, David Kiernan, Henry Mochida, Mohammad Shahinur Rahmin.  Advisors for the project were Dolores Foley and Karl Kim.

You can download the entire issue book by clicking on the Download link above. (may take some time to download due to file size)

For more information about this project contact:

Dolores Foley at dolores@hawaii.edu.