Thirty years ago, Kaka'ako was a dilapidated area, its roads often filled with puddles after a minor rainfall and its waterfront filled with trash and garbage trucks. However, thanks to its unique location between Downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, it was seen as a "diamond in the rough," poised for transformation into a new mixed-use urban community.

To help Kaka'ako realize that potential, the Legislature in 1976 created the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, which, in turn, created a plan for Kaka'ako. They knew then that population and economic growth were coming and that prudent planning would need to contemplate decades of growth instead of years, whole neighborhoods instead of piecemeal parcels of land.

HCDA sums up the situation well in a published description of its mission. "Population growth on O'ahu is inevitable," says HCDA. "The question is how best to accommodate this growth — through urban infill or sprawl into agricultural areas with associated traffic, infrastructure, environmental and social costs? HCDA protects O'ahu's resources by infilling urban areas and taking advantage of upgraded infrastructure. This approach keeps country country, puts people close to jobs and leisure activities and means fewer cars congesting O'ahu's roads."

HCDA's work over the past decades included significant investment in the infrastructure needed to accommodate "smart growth" in Kaka'ako. However, the area is still generally seen as underdeveloped, far short of its potential and home to aging warehouses and buildings. It is unfriendly to pedestrians and bicyclists and underserved by public transit. It lacks public plazas and central gathering places. While there are a number of residential buildings in Kaka'ako, there is no real urban neighborhood.

We now have a unique opportunity to fulfill HCDA's vision. General Growth Properties owns about 60 acres within Kaka'ako, an area we call the Ward Neighborhood. We have submitted a proposed master plan that not only shows how inevitable growth can be accommodated, but provides the amenities that make a real neighborhood. The Ward Neighborhood will be a place for people of different kinds of families to live, work, or play, where they are able to walk to parks, shops, restaurants and other places without having to rely on the automobile.

Over the next 20 years, master planning, rather than piecemeal development, can transform Kaka'ako. With the Ward Neighborhood Plan, there is an opportunity to build a true urban neighborhood that nurtures and builds upon the unique local character that has attracted Hawai'i residents to the area for years.

How will we accomplish this task? First, our aim is to accommodate many of the local businesses at Ward that give the neighborhood much of its charm. In addition, more than 800 new housing units will be set aside for people of moderate income. Other features will include new public plazas that would become performance venues and gathering places for the larger community, and wide promenades with trees and landscaping that would invite people to walk through the neighborhood.

See for yourself. HCDA is carefully studying our proposed plan for the Ward Neighborhood, and you can, too. A crucial phase of the plan's approval process is public participation. We have already incorporated ideas collected at dozens of meetings with Ward neighbors, community members, business people, educators, cultural leaders, urban planners, nonprofit executives, Kaka'ako residents and key government officials. Clearly, public input is important, and we look forward to continuing further discussion with the community.

Jan Yokota is vice president of development for General Growth Properties. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.