Honolulu Public Views Study

Dyett & Bhatia is currently leading the Honolulu Public Views Study, which encompasses all of urban Honolulu, from Diamond Head to Red Hill. The overarching objective of the study is to identify and protect salient views of surrounding mountains, many of which are sacred to native Hawaiians, in the face of ever increasing development pressures and proposals for numerous skyscrapers.

Work completed includes an understanding of existing conditions and views, analysis of the current view protection regulatory framework, wayfinding and navigation strategies of pre-contact Hawaiians as they relate to the study area, case studies of view protection programs of other cities, and outreach including an extensive online visual survey completed by 1,700 participants. The next steps include additional outreach, which has been hampered by the pandemic, and recommendations on planning and zoning changes for view protection.

Cutting-edge tools are being used for analysis, including GIS-based viewshed assessment and a three-dimensional model of central Honolulu showing all salient buildings, development proposals, and zoning massing, all developed in-house by Dyett & Bhatia.