Pereira Firm Plans New Town West of Honolulu
A projected 6,000-acre city about 14 miles west of downtown Honolulu is being planned within the 35,000-acre James Campbell estate on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Ewa City, planned as a secondary urban center, will have about 50,000 residents, and is expected to eventually accommodate a population of 125,000.
The Los Angeles-based architectural firm of Pereira & Associates was chosen as the city’s master planner from a field of 10 prominent urban design firms, and will develop and implement the concept within the guidelines of a long-range development program.
Targeted for completion in the year 2035, Ewa City will have 6 million square feet of commercial space, 15,000 housing units and public facilities, as well as a civic center, a regional park and an amphitheater to be located within an extinct volcano cone.
Reflecting Culture
In announcing the agreement between Pereira Associates and the estate of James Campbell, Michael A. Warren, manager of resort and residential properties for the estate, noted that “planning for this important project will involve working closely with local community and government groups to ensure that the new city meets the needs and reflects the history, natural setting and culture of the communities in the area.”
William H. Fain Jr., executive vice president and director of urban planning for the architectural firm, stressed the need to create a secondary urban center that would have “maximum self-sufficiency, and with design features that would enhance the vitality of the total urban fabric.”
In-Depth Study
Regional retail facilities, Fain added, would resemble a festival marketplace with open spaces conducive to pedestrian traffic.
In preparing the master plan, the architectural firm conducted an in-depth study of the historical, environmental and commercial development of the island and the area.
An archeologist was commissioned to research the mythology and culture of the region, and those elements have been incorporated in the planning, Fain said.
“We have given a lot of thought to Hawaiian legend and history and this will be reflected in street names and on how we utilize certain sites,” Fain stressed. “We are particularly fond of an old Polynesian proverb that beckons those Ewa folks who have strayed, ‘to return home for the sun is on the cliff.’ We hope to create that kind of inviting environment.”
