Abstract
In an ever-moving world, urban governance and infrastructure have to adapt to climate change. In the meantime, people's concerns and engagement towards urban projects which will affect their lives are growing. The climate change adaptation process is inevitable to implement, considering the multiplicity of climate change threats. Hawai'i is no exception, and it has to adapt its infrastructures to stronger and more frequent floods. This master's thesis highlights the case of the Ala Wai risk flood management plan in Hawai'i, the U.S., and the engagement of some Hawaiians in the Protect Our Ala Wai Watershed (POAWW) grassroots movement against the proposed project. The conflict creates the emergence of two paradigms, which are translating two opposing strategies of action. Each paradigm aligns with a specific approach that reflects the interests and value systems of the individuals that constituted it.
On the one hand, there is the economic growth paradigm supported by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which manages the project and unfolds the resilience strategy by protecting Honolulu's dominant economic interests. On the other hand, there is the environmental justice paradigm, mobilized by the POAWW grassroots movement. This latter one is positioned within the transition strategy and demands the integration of indigenous knowledge into the project. To go beyond this conflictual standoff, the master's thesis argues that a hybrid paradigm, which would move towards a transformation strategy, would be preferable to surpass the current cleavages. This paradigm shift gives keys of actions and could be transferable in a contextualized way to other urban conflicts linked with the climate change adaptation process.
Key words: climate change adaptation, transformation, paradigm shift, environmental justice, Hawai’i, indigeneity, urban political ecology.
Infrastructure Projects and Climate Change Adaptation in the Era of Grassroots Movement
Resurgence:
Suggestions for Transformational Actions
Valentine Gabrielle Huet
Cover image: Grassroots movement demonstration during the Aloha the Ala Wai event (Source: Author's own pictures, 2020)
Copyright © Valentine Gabrielle Huet, 2020 KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory
Division of History of Science, Technology and the Environment Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan) Teknikringen 74D, level 5
SE-11428 Stockholm, Sweden Telephone: +46 8 790 62 63 E-mail: history@abe.kth.se
Acknowledgments
Writing a master's thesis has been a demanding process. This lengthy process helped me to push further my limits and perform a structural method that I am pursuing since I am studying. The global pandemic made the writing process harder, and the personal questionings around what was happening in the world slowed down the process.
This master's thesis has been possible thanks to the support of the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory. This research was undertaken as part of Occupy Climate Change!
project funded by FORMAS (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development) under the National Research Programme on Climate (Contract: 2017-01962_3). Marco Armiero has been the first person in this lab who gave me trust and accompanied me for my master's thesis project. Ethemcan Turhan took the lead and guided me over the process. I would like to thank him, particularly for his mentorship, patience, and commitment to my final academic project, by accurately pushing my limits. His care during those special times of worldwide pandemic was precious in many ways. Moreover, I could not ask a better supervisor for my topic and my way of doing, thinking, and being.
I am grateful to Hawai'i for having accepted me in this highly spiritual place. The first mantra I learned when I arrived in Honolulu was the Aloha principle. It was often translated as the share of life and the spirit of happiness in the experience. This guided me through my time there.
I am thankful to all the people I met in Hawai'i, who guided my research and helped me to complete my data collection. I would like to thank the activists of POAWW for their inspiring devotion to the cause and share their experiences and especially Sidney Lynch and Dave Watase. They trusted in my project, gave me some of their precious time, and helped me to understand the case study and the processes deeply.
I would like to thank all the academic professionals from the University of Hawai'i that I met.
They led my thinking and enlightened the grey zones of my case study. I would like to thank Dan Milz, particularly. He trusted in my project and invited me in one of his courses, which was determinant in my understanding of the urban planning and environmental legislative process in Hawai'i.
I am grateful for being part of the SUPD program at KTH and having met interesting students.
This forward-thinking program enabled me to shape my growing understandings of the world and its multiple facets.
I would like to thank my parents for supporting me financially and emotionally and for their guidance throughout my education. Without their unwavering support and trust in my choices, I would not have been able to continue my academic journey and write these words.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my best friend, partner, confidant, André, thanks to whom this ride has been merely loving and caring. Thank you for showing me support throughout these years and sharing lively conversations about the world. Most of all, I am grateful for your trust and follow me in my crazy ideas, which led us to Hawai'i, the geographical opposite point of our home.
Table of content
Figures, tables and acronyms 10
1. Introduction 13
1.1 Aim of the study and research questions 17
1.2. Road map 17
2. Theoretical framework 19
2. 1. Climate change adaptation 19
2. 2. The economic growth paradigm 20
2. 3. The environmental justice paradigm 23
2. 4. Hybrid paradigm 25
2. 5. Value systems 27
3. Methodology 29
3. 1. Access to the field 30
3. 2. Employed methodologies 30
3. 3 Limits of my research 35
4. Case study 37
4. 1. Context 37
4.2. The scars of a colonial past 39
4.3. Defining Waikiki 40
4.4. Socio-economic structures that surround the Ala Wai 43 4.5. Protect Our Ala Wai Watershed Grassroots Movement 45 4.6. The Ala Wai flood risk management project 46
5. Analysis 49
5. 1. The Ala Wai and the Hawaiians 49
5. 2. Resistance to Ala Wai flood risk management project: Why, What and for
Whom? 50
5. 3. A conflict embedded in the scars of colonialism and indigenous
resurgence 57
5.3.1. Political indigenous resurgence in reaction to the colonial past 57
5.3.2. Ala Wai's evolution 60
5.4. Different interests for the management plan 64
6. Discussion 67
6.1. Paradigm synthesis 67
6. 2. Paradigm shift needed 68
6. 3. Propositions for a hybrid paradigm 69
6. 4. Hybrid paradigm in the context of the Ala Wai flood risk management
project 72
6. 4.1 First important steps of implementation 72
6.4.2. Further steps toward a healing process 74
7. Conclusion 76
References 79
Annex 1 86
Annex 2. 91
Figures, tables and acronyms
Figures
Figure 1. Map of O’ahu with case study location in the red circle Figure 2. Findings at the State Archives of Hawai'i
Figure 3. Cintel scanner at the City Archives of Honolulu
Figure 4. Example of newspaper bobbins archives at the City Archives of Honolulu Figure 5. Waikiki and Diamond Head in the back
Figure 6. Lo'i Kalo field and irrigation system located in Waikiki looking towards Manoa valley Figure 7. Banana fields located in Waikiki looking towards Diamond Head
Figure 8. Waikiki Aerial view, unknown
Figure 9. The Waikiki Plain, lower portion of the Ala Wai watershed prior to 1900
Figure 10. Lower portion of the Ala Wai watershed after the construction of the canal 2019 Figure 11. Aerial view of today's Waikiki and the Ala Wai
Figure 12. The imperviousness (in red) and the canal (in white)
Figure 13. Income differences between the neighborhoods around the Ala Wai
Figure 14. Map of the infrastructures proposed in the Ala Wai flood risk management project by USACE
Figure 15. Aloha the Ala Wai event, organized by POAWW on the 16 February 2020, next to the canal
Figure 16. Grassroots movement demonstration during the Aloha the Ala Wai event Figure 17. POAWW stand during the Aloha the Ala Wai event
Figure 18. Low drainage land strategy with nature-based solutions
Figure 19. Rising event at the State Capitol of Hawai'i, taken at the end of the event
Figure 20. Taro patches of Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head, before the arrival of the Americans
Figure 21. Construction of the Ala Wai canal Figure 22. Postcard of Waikiki
Figure 23. Waikiki area and the three ahupua'a
Figure 24. Aerial view of the urbanized Waikiki and the Ala Wai
Figure 25. Today's view of Waikiki, the Ala Wai, the golf and the three ahupua'a Figure 26. Imbrications of the two existing strategies into the proposed strategy Figure 27. Native Hawaiian and his surfboard
Figure 28. Surf practices by Americans
Figure 29. The Honolulu Advertiser article about Ala Wai’s improvements Figure 30. The Honolulu Advertiser article about erosion issues on the Ala Wai
Figure 31. Community aspects of the student project by Jonathan Quach, Thien Nguyen, Isabelle Yu
Figure 32. Natural ecosystem aspects of the student project by Jonathan Quach, Thien Nguyen, Isabelle Yu
Tables
Table 1. Summary of interviews during the field
Table 2. Meetings with academics from the University of Hawai’i Table 3. Public and private meetings attended for observation purposes
Table 4. Presentation of the different paradigms and their integration in the case of the Ala Wai
Acronyms
CCA: Climate Change Adaptation
DLNR: Department of Land and Natural Resources EIS: Environmental Impact Statement
NBS: Nature-based solutions
POAWW: Protect Our Ala Wai Watersheds USACE: United States Army Corps of Engineers
1. Introduction
The 21st century is enduring climate change and, cities are at the core of these threats. The Second Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network warns on cities and urban planning's role to reduce their climate change impacts on the urban environment (Raven et al. 2018). The report proposes that urban planning and design have to integrate climate change adaptation strategies across different temporal and spatial scales. This suggestion addresses the sustainability of urban futures in regard to the many threats. Because of climate change, coastal cities are already experiencing a sea-level rise. The climate patterns are changing with different levels of precipitations; meanwhile, temperatures are rising, and stronger and more frequent hazards are happening (NASA, 2020).
Climate change is already impacting the Pacific region heavily. Hawai'i (U.S.) is no exception and is facing climate change’s impacts. Its intense urbanization makes it vulnerable to these new climate change patterns. In the third National Climate Assessment of the Climate Change Impacts in the United States report (NCA, 2014), one of the main identified threats for Hawai’i is the sea-level rise coupled with a high level of water caused by flood hazards. The study of the NOAA, the American governmental climate research center, has registered in 2017 in Hawai'i sea level anomalies up to 40 centimeters, as well as extreme rainfall with 100% more precipitations than the usual average was recorded and sea surface temperatures rose about 2 degrees (Kruk, 2017). The risks draw a danger for infrastructures, agriculture, coastal ecosystems, and having negative impacts on tourism - the primary source of the economy on Hawai'i (ibid). Waikiki, the heart of tourism in Honolulu, located on O'ahu island of Hawai'i (see Figure 1), is facing double threats: on one side sea level rise and the other flash floods from the mountains, which are hardly controlled and retained by the Ala Wai1.
1 In this master’s thesis, I will employ the word Ala Wai to refers to the design the canal to avoid lexical redundancy. Indeed, in the Hawaiian language, “Ala” means “pathway” and, “Wai” means water.
This master's thesis studies the Ala Wai located on O’ahu island, Hawai’i. The canal is between Waikiki area and the major suburbs of Honolulu. The canal was built in 1921 on swamps to control the water flows from the mountain to the ocean. The canal was considered at its creation as a leisure and fishing canal and has gone through little refurbishments. Since the 1980s, the canal was viewed as a dirty waterbody and an urban environment avoided by the inhabitants of Honolulu, when possible. Hundred years after its construction, the canal is under revision plan conducted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Hawai'i's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). This plan is going on officially since 2017 to adapt the canal to the potential flash floods and centennial flood (USACE, 2020). The plan's primary goal is to strengthen the adaptation capacity of the canal to the climate change threats (USACE, 2020). The controlling aspect of the infrastructure brought up adaptation concerns as climate change threatens the adequacy of the canal and its streams (Okamoto, 2013).
Figure 1. Map of O’ahu with case study location in the red circle (Source:
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/135099)
The canal's history is rooted in the colonial past of the island, and the annexation that has changed Hawai'i's map. The annexation of Hawai'i by the U.S in 1898 brought new changes to the islands. An urban intensive and modern land-use management took place to increase the profitability of the land. Thus, it suppressed the indigenous ahupua'a land management system for a better rentability of the lands. The implementation by the Americans to develop the island with a high modernist vision, in a sense like described by James C. Scott (1999), started quickly. In Honolulu, the watershed area has been severely changed with the canal's construction. The American engineers used modern engineering to control the water by creating the Ala Wai. The lands where the canal is built were taken from the native Hawaiian farmers. The American army is still managing the lands, which is the heritage from its colonial past. Nowadays, over 22% of the areas in O'ahu are militarized lands, making it one of the most militarized states of the U.S. The USACE, which is part of the American Army, is currently coordinating the management plan of the Ala Wai. This strong link with the military aspects raises questions from the public towards the Ala Wai flood risk management project's chosen solutions.
However, not everyone is in agreement. A group of Hawaiians, who oppose the management plan of USACE, are engaged in grassroots movement against the Ala Wai flood risk management project. The grassroots movement Protect Our Ala Wai Watershed (POAWW) is the leading movement that engages with the project. Their concerns are growing about the real reasons behind this management plan. The grassroots movement is defending an alternative plan with local nature-based solutions associated with indigenous knowledge (POAWW, 2020). The grassroots movement's engagement went as far as to go to court to stop the project so that it would be revised. The grassroots movement obtained a court ruling in October 2019 to pause the project until having a revised version of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by USACE (HNN, 2019). This decision has created a new dynamic where POAWW and other individual stakeholders can share their views on the design of the plan.
The conflict goes beyond the infrastructural management plan. While the USACE is proposing a program with high modernist solutions, the grassroots movement is asking for the introduction of indigenous knowledge and nature-based solutions. Indeed, the Ala Wai has been, since its creation, made with modern understandings brought by American engineers.
However, the climate change context and the current indigenous cultural revival wave in Hawai'i are strengthening the will to find other infrastructural solutions that would integrate indigenous knowledge and, thus, blue and green infrastructures. This transfer of answers to this infrastructure management plan could impact on the understanding of creating cities and their infrastructures in the context of climate change adaptation (CCA). Also, this moment where rights and values are denied can be perceived as tipping points for change (Pelling and Dill, 2010).
Some of the principal authors in urban political ecology, such as Nik Heynen, Maria Kaika and Erik Swyngedouw, suggest that cities create a specific environment that reflects the social power (Heynen et al., 2006, p.6) and the values that the dominant systems are reinforcing.
Divergences in the value system are at the core of the conflict of this case study. These divergences are revealing the current social, political and environmental dynamics that are going on in Hawai'i. Indeed, the revendications of the grassroots movement are highlighting two different views for the Ala Wai management project. These views are associated with the indigenous values that are clashing with the modern values promoted by USACE. The understanding of the value system within societies is a real challenge. The urban planning field poorly debated the link between climate change and value systems and the importance of acknowledging and act upon it. This combination needs some clarity to be understood. Once clarified, planners and engineers can co-create urban projects which make sense with the local context, are adaptive to the place, and, with climate change.
1.1 Aim of the study and research questions
This master thesis seeks to highlight and understand the two visions associated with the proposed plan of the Ala Wai. On the one hand, the USACE and the governmental vision and, on the other hand, the grassroots movement vision associated with the project. To go further, I will analyze with both lenses as an urban planner and sociologist, the necessary paradigm shift beyond the resilience strategy, and the transition strategy conundrum towards the transformation strategy in the context of CCA. There is hardly any academic research on climate change adaptation and grassroots movements’ reaction in Hawai’i and precisely none on that topic and neither on this specific case study. Holistic research is required to get the complexity of the situation, and this requires an understanding of the different visions associated with the management plan. This work will provide key insights for authorities regarding future infrastructure projects and open new possibilities for more sustainable and resilient planning alternatives. In what follows, I will try to answer the following research questions that guided my work:
R.Q.1. Why are some Hawaiians engaging in the POAWW grassroots movement that is acting to prevent a plan supposed to enable climate change adaptation?
R.Q.2. What are the factors of change that could help governments, planners, and engineers to create a sustainable and inclusive urban project in the climate change context?
1.2. Road map
This thesis is composed of seven chapters. In the first chapter, I will introduce the background of my research, provide the research problem as well as the motivations to develop this particular angle. In the second chapter, I propose a theoretical framework that is useful to understand the following sections, especially the final discussion. This analysis will provide an investigation of the different paradigms that create the current divergent dynamics within the
case study. The third chapter exposes the methodologies and the limits that have been used and confronted throughout my field study. The fourth chapter is an in-depth description of the case study that is a bridge between the methodology section and the analysis. Indeed, the explanation of the interlinkages of different disciplines of the case is complex. The fifth chapter provides an analysis of the Ala Wai, and a presentation of the relevant findings of my fieldwork. This section reflects what I learned and how I perceived the case-study through my lens. The sixth chapter is the discussion of what has been analyzed and echoing to the theoretical framework. In that specific part, I will propose new ways of thinking and actions to go beyond the current case study cleavages. Finally, the seventh chapter will summarize the findings of this master thesis. Moreover, I will suggest further research around the topic concerning the current special times of the global pandemic.
2. Theoretical framework
This thesis adopts an urban political ecology approach as the primary driver of research and analysis. Urban political ecology studies the power relations between political, social, and economic aspects within the urban environment (Heynen, Kaika, Swyngedouw, 2006).
Indeed, decisions made in the urban environment are affected and affecting these three societal layers. Besides, the production and reproduction of inequalities but also who benefits and who loses from the urban environment are studied. Moreover, imbalances of the post- colony conditions and inequalities due to indigeneity are patterns that have an important place in this field of research as a consequence of the reproduction of an unequal urban environment (Heynen, 2015). Thus, urban political ecology enables the observation of the interaction of these aspects mentioned above, what they produce in societies, and sees the synergies as a metabolic process (Cornea, 2019). Overall, this conceptual approach grapples the multiple facets of the urban environment, gives a holistic approach to it, and tends to provide a sustainable and just approach to the urban environment.
2. 1. Climate change adaptation
Adaptation to climate change is, in urban settings, a priority to cope with climate change (IPCC, 2018). Adaptation is defined by the IPCC as the "process of adjustments to actual or expected climate and its effects" (2014, p.18). Thus, climate change adaptation (CCA) process is a dynamic process in response to climate change, which is inherent to human lives (Pelling, 2011). The plurality of responses and actions taken for the CCA process represent the different narratives among the various societies (ibid). Watts (1983) describes the adaptation process as going beyond the human needs towards environmental justice changes and incorporating the social and cultural aspects, including the possibility for wealth extraction. His work highlights the complex interlinkage character of adaptation. Moreover, he describes climate adaptation as a world of contingencies, shocks, risks thresholds, and tipping points (Watts,
2015). He sees the adaptation and risk management process as being the current hegemonic forms based on neoliberal rules and governance (ibid).
In this thesis, the interpretation of the risk mitigation process is understood as part of a subset of the CCA process. According to United States of America Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Ala Wai flood risk management project is a risk mitigation plan to prevent potential floods in Honolulu. However, according to Pelling (2011, p.22), adaptive actions can also have the aim of reducing the different exposures by improving the ways of mitigating the hazard. This hazard mitigation process is a subset of the CCA process. Furthermore, McEvoy et al. (2006) remind us that the engineering process considers the risk mitigation process as part of a CCA process.
Nowadays, cities are constrained to produce CCA strategies to respond to the inherent climate change threats (Pelling, 2011). These strategies are multiple and differ depending on the social, political, and economic dynamics (Bulkeley and Betsill, 2005). There are currently two dominant urban planning trends linked with CCA (Pelling 2011). The resilient strategy and a transition. In his work, Pelling (ibid) describes resilience strategies as maintaining the status quo (p.3) and the transition strategies as bringing incremental change (ibid). These two paradigms are opponents because of the different mechanisms of action and interests covered.
In the following theoretical sections, I will try to disclose further what these two strategies embedded. Finally, the hybrid paradigm will be introduced, which is linked to the transformational strategy and is appearing as introducing radical changes in the societies (ibid).
2. 2. The economic growth paradigm
The understanding of economic growth in this thesis, is rooted in Jane Jacobs' effort to elaborate a theory that is unfolding the link between the city and economic growth (Jacobs, 1969, p.3). Jacobs defined a city as "a settlement that consistently generates its economic
growth from its own local economy" (ibid, p. 262). Moreover, she argues that the implementation of economic development is a specific form of growth (ibid). It positions growth as an economic development process that emphasizes innovative productions and solutions as the constant technological advancements. These technological advancements are essential for the economic growth of cities in an exponential way (ibid).
In fact, the importance given to the economic growth to sustain the city is taking part in the 1970's period, where the world was reinforcing capitalist logic (Fagerberg and Verspagen, 1999). The economic growth dynamic is prominent and has been in escalations for the past three decades (Sassen, 2014, p.12). Sassen argues that the economic growth paradigm causes the global economy's brutality and complexity, which provokes people's expulsion to the urban life and space and reinforces inequalities (2014). This paradigm also strengthens the competition between global cities (Sassen, 2005). There is a growing interest in medium cities to make room in the worldwide scene in this new global space of economic flows (Taylor and Derudder, 2016). Besides, Purdey (2010) declares that the economic growth paradigm gives a significant power to government and military institutions. The author alerts on the unsustainability of constant economic growth logic for societies' social and environmental bodies (p.5). Kohler and Chaves highlight today's importance for the material and economic interests of cities (2003). These interests are provoking a high competition due to strong worldwide city networks affiliated with economic growth (Taylor and Derudder, 2016).
The economic growth paradigm furthers the resilient strategy, which is part of the dominant discourse and strategy worldwide. Indeed, the goal of urban economic growth governs urban development and strategies of actions (Molotch, 1976). This logic is part of the resilient strategy for CCA as the continuity of economic growth. Indeed, resilience articulates the adaptation process of the potential shocks across the economic and environmental prisms (Thieme, 2016). The resilience strategy diversifies the weak points of the system and tries to spread the risks to limit the consequences (ibid). Urban resilient strategies orient their goal
toward urban economic growth (Laberenne and Lamson Hall, 2018). The core of this strategy is the necessity to quantify the results of the chosen CCA solutions to prove whether a solution works (ibid). Quantification is a core mechanism to economic growth logic. The expansion of the urban environment and its profitability to answer the city's future needs is a crucial element in this strategy. The protectionism of what has been built in the name of economic growth is associated with the resilient strategy (Pelling, 2016). This framework is the heritage of the capitalist societies. Thus, resilience strategy is an alliance with the capitalist system and perpetuates it (Webber, 2016, p.408). As a consequence of capitalism, the current climate change adaptation process in modern societies fosters social inequalities. Furthermore, Barry explains that capitalism has to go through two states to exist: to fluctuate or to expand (2011, p.132). These two states of being do not benefit the people and are responsible for socio- economic instability and strengthen the inequalities (ibid). The resilient strategy prefers a top- down approach, although it increases the disparities in the resources' governance (Pelling, 2016).
In a survey sent to 33 adaptation researchers conducted by Morchain (2018), over half of them demonstrated that most of the adaptation processes due to climate change do not consider local values and traditions. If they do, it is to comfort the country's geopolitical and economic interests (ibid, p.68). In the same survey, the author observed that generally speaking, most of the processes of CCA and the outcomes do not tend to empower people but, on the contrary, maintain their marginalization (ibid). Moreover, the modernist vision of land-use management is anchored in the economic growth logic. This land-use management is growing the modern socio-economic weaknesses and creates a more significant dependence on western knowledge, culture, economic market. It can result in creating cultural dispossession in the post-colonial and indigeneity contexts (Cachola, 2019). In addition, the resilient strategy is rooted in capitalism, which is one of the causes of climate change (Jackson, 2009). Thus, it pursues an auto-healing process by tending to save what has contributed to climate change.
Overall, the economic growth paradigm proposes an analysis of reality based on the objectivity of knowledge, which provides one reality (Popper, 1959) and it is associated with the use of quantitative methodologies over qualitative. The given reality is valid until the revelation of new quantitative proofs which will modify it (ibid). This informative and realistic way of thinking and viewing the world (Nyamwanza and Bhatasara, 2014) does not consider the social constructions of the society as a key factor influencing the decisions but more the causality chains of tangible elements. Thus, this strategy is affiliated with the post-positivist approach (Guba and Lincoln, 1994).
2. 3. The environmental justice paradigm
The environmental justice concept takes its roots from the injustices present among the minority communities. It brings new insights into reframing new practices and concerns while highlighting the relationship between the achievement of social justice for all and a functioning environment (Agyeman et al., 2016). Moreover, a core issue of the environmental justice discourse is the influence of decisions related to climate change on the urban environment.
Indeed, these decisions tend to affect primarily minorities and poorer areas and are factors that increase social inequalities (ibid). For these reasons, environmental justice paradigm seeks to advocate a fair treatment and rejects the disruption of certain communities because of their race, income, or color (Daly, 1996). It is in opposition to the dominant economic logic over social aspects. Indeed, environmental justice focuses on an equitable involvement and treatment of people irrespectively of their income, education level, ethnicity, and in respect of environmental regulations, policies (Waller, 2013). Environmental justice is inherent to the social, economic, and environmental mismanagements caused by the economic growth paradigm. In response to the economic growth paradigm's governance top-down approach, the environmental justice paradigm highlights a need for a bottom-up approach (Gunnersson and Svensfelt, 2017). Indeed, this paradigm is producing a co-construction of knowledge and capacities among all citizens (Daly, 1996).
The environmental justice paradigm addresses that the local context is or has been mismanaged or forgotten by authorities. Thus, it conceives that people try to take control of their local environment so it can be in coherence with the local values (Gunnersson and Svensfelt, 2017). The local knowledge produced by people and cultural aspects is seen as a unique understanding and knowledge of the ecological resources and how to use them adequately (Leonard et al., 2013). That is why, the environmental justice paradigm mainly occurs at local scales with eco-localism practices (Hahnel, 2007) rather than larger scales, as the economic growth paradigm tends to do. These local ecological practices are anchored in ecological knowledge of the environment and stimulate local production and consumption and creates an alternative to the global system (Gunnersson and Svensfelt, 2017). This paradigm develops local social ties, which are building trust relationships between dwellers. The trust between social relations is crucial and forms the strong core of this adaptative strategy (Carr, 2004). The localism of the environmental justice strategy is also due to the need for understanding the specific context of a given place. It means that this strategy is enhancing the development of knowledge of the ecological mechanisms of a site. This understanding leads to incremental changes and, thus, the transition strategy (Pelling, 2011).
The environmental justice paradigm advances the necessity of social and cognitive knowledge.
Its construction occurs around the convictions of individuals and the interactions between each other. Indeed, the social nets and the process of exchange of expertise collaboratively constructed are essential to this type of paradigm (Gunnersson and Svensfelt, 2017). The individual and collective experiences are relevant and taken into account to justify actions (von Glasersfeld, 2001). Moreover, there is an attempt to change the dialogue mechanism to create multicultural settings that respect different cultural values and traditions of the local inhabitants is proposed (Anguelovski and Martinez Alier, 2014, p.170-171). It also demands the recognition and participation in the decision-making system of all citizens (Schlosberg, 2007). These components indicate that the environmental justice paradigm develops a social- constructivist approach (Adamson et al. 2002, p.115).
2. 4. Hybrid paradigm
There is a need for the transformation of the dominant ontologies regarding climate change, cultural paradigms, and the prevailing scientific approach (Hulme, 2009). The global environmental changes may demand an innovative approach to conduct and communicate science upon new transdisciplinary paths (Wickson et al., 2006). Climate change has a hybrid character because of the multiple interconnected layers it is affecting (Popke, 2016). The acknowledgment of the hybrid nature of climate change is displacing the boundaries of the binary visions (Dujardin, 2019, p. 6) between the resilience and environmental justice paradigms. Thus, the hybrid paradigm would suggest operating beyond the dialectical and dual mode of analysis and action of the two previously presented paradigms. The futures actions of the hybrid paradigm would take place beyond the post-structuralist thinking (Rose, 2000). Hulme (2008) proposes the "mutating hybrid entity" (p.5) in which society and climate change's strained lines are evaporating. The hybrid paradigm would propose an integrative process (Dujardin, 2019) with transformational changes (Pelling 2011). The affiliation of the transformational strategy would peer the hybrid paradigm.
This third strategy creates transformational changes within the system. Pelling (2011) proposes that the transformation pathway is another way to enhance the climate change adaptation process. The author argues that this new type of climate change adaptation process proposes innovative ways of acting and systemic changes within the given society (ibid). Thus, the transformation pathways bring the revision, reformation, and possible replacement of the current system and tackle the causes and not the symptoms of the inherent issues that the societies have (ibid). Besides, climate change revives the weaknesses of political, economic, and social systems. For that reason, the transformation strategy aims to deal with them to create a just and inclusive society within a changing system.
Hence, by catalyzing the rapid and large-scale system changes, it involves multiple approaches of actions that would take place at different spheres (Wright, 2010). According to O'Brien (2018), to be successful, transformational changes imply that three spheres have to be reshaped and included in the process: the personal, practical, and political spheres. By being transformed, these three spheres will create an in-depth transformational process within societies (ibid, p.155). More particularly, the political sphere represents the structures and systems that practically answer to cop climate change. It also challenges the social fields (Gillard et al., 2016), where norms, interests, and understandings are shared. Despite the importance of the three spheres, the political sphere can produce and launch more significant changes. Indeed, beliefs formed in the political sphere are powerful and play an essential role in any societal change (O'Brien, 2018, p.156).
One way of implementing the transformation strategy in the political sphere is the production of a new social contract (ibid). As Habermas (1997) argues, social contracts enhance popular sovereignty, which brings equal and collective participation among citizens. It conceives that the conception of a social contract proposes that each individual has reciprocal rights in the public space and is autonomous of their decisions and actions (ibid, p.306). The transformation strategy proposes people's autonomy toward the political, economic, and social system, leading to the end of the status quo. Arturo Escobar (2018, p.181) defines autonomy as a state of living beyond the hierarchical governances' logics that rely on capitalism. Thus, being autonomous means to foster alternatives, which are new forms of power found in horizontal governance (ibid). The social contract of the transformation strategy develops new ways of acting and conceiving the system's social and political structures (Pelling, 2011). However, the social contract's hurdle occurs during strong shocks such as economic crises or environmental hazards. Then, it can be revised and/or adapted to society's new state (ibid, p.172).
The de-polarization of the hybrid paradigm deconstructs previous approaches (Braun and Castree, 2001) as the economic growth and the environmental justice paradigms. Moreover, the hybrid character of climate change can generate an inclusive approach to the different socio-economic and environmental layers of societies. As mentioned, the hybrid paradigm also considers the complexity of social actions and their interlinkage (ibid, p.4). By rethinking these systemic relations and implementing transformational changes, this paradigm relates to the post-structuralist approach (Dujardin, 2019, p.3).
2. 5. Value systems
The different types of understandings and actions of the societies take their roots in different value systems (O'Brien, 2009). Rokeach (1979) defines value as "standards or criteria to guide not only action but also judgment, choice, attitude, evaluation, argument, exhortation, rationalization, and, one might add, attribution of causality" (p.2). The values of an individual or a society are part of a value system. According to Williams (1979), the value system is "an organized set of preferential standards that are used in making selections of objects and actions, resolving conflicts, invoking social sanctions, and coping with needs or claims for social and psychological defenses of choices made or proposed" (p.17). The link between people's motivation and individual values set up in an organization of coherent structures in a system of values (O'Brien, Wolf, 2010). These worldviews can change significantly over time and between generations or even within an individual's lifespan (ibid).
O'Brien and Wolf (2010) studied the value system of societies in the context of climate change.
These authors explain that in the past, the term "value" has been primarily associated with the monetary aspect. The economic dimension has mostly dominated the discourse of the notion of value when it comes to climate change (ibid). However, they propose a new understanding of the value by linking it with people's subjectivity. O'Brien and Wolf stress the point that when it comes to transition and vulnerability due to climate change, the primary stake is about how people perceive it. This individual perception is then representative of their actions (ibid). The
adaptation and inclusion of values systems within CCA are possible at a larger scale. Finally, O'Brien and Wolf's claim that climate change adaptation plans should consider the local value systems and have an integral approach to be sustainable in the short and long term (p.239).
3. Methodology
My primary methodological approach was a grounded research coupled with an ethnographic approach. The grounded research requires data collection, but most important is the articulation around their analysis (Charmaz, 2014). This interactive and inductive methodology (Charmaz and Belgrave, 2019) included in-depth interviews, short close-ended interviews, archival research, and participant observations with the community organization.
These qualitative inquiries helped me to understand and reveal some relatively unseen topics (Charmaz, 1999). Indeed, the case study encompasses many issues. Some of these issues were not residing in the conflict but were influencing the dynamics around the case. To have an accurate picture of the conflict, I had to unveil them through a multidisciplinary approach. I adopted a grounded approach to the data collection and analysis since I had to understand the culture, values of the different stakeholders, and examine their positionality. I added the archival research as methodology due to the profound connection of the Ala Wai and the revendication of the grassroots movement with historical events like the U.S annexation.
The fieldwork for the case study of the Ala Wai flood risk management project took place in Honolulu, where I spent time from January 2020 until the beginning of March 2020. This research was part of the Occupy Climate Change! project that is conducted by the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory. This global project studies five cities with a focus on loss and damage and the impacts of climate change in the urban context2. I chose to investigate the Ala Wai flood risk management project developed primarily by USACE and the POAWW grassroots movement because it is a transdisciplinary case that demands a multidisciplinary approach to its study. The socio-political complexity of the management plan, its history, and the emotional ties of activists required a holistic approach. Moreover, the Ala Wai flood risk
2 For more information,
see: https://www.kth.se/en/abe/inst/philhist/historia/forskning/environmental- humani/occ
management project connects with geographical, historical, political, environmental, and social aspects.
3. 1. Access to the field
The three types of stakeholders I interacted with were quite challenging to contact before physically being on the island. O’ahu is a relatively small island; people know each other and often meet in person. Firstly, the grassroots movement has been quite hard to connect with online, but once I was there, it was easier. After the first interview I had with a member, the interviewee gave me the contact of other people inside of the movement, but also other key stakeholders linked with the conflict (see Table 1 in Annex 1). Secondly, academic researchers were accessible online. I exchanged with them a month before my arrival, which opened up the ground for discussions and first self-reflections on the topic (see Table 2 in Annex 1). Most of them were keen to meet me, and they helped me to shape my thinking process. Thirdly, most of the public sector actors were hard to reach because of a lack of time and interest.
However, the professionals that I met were very much into the topic and knew a lot about the dynamics within the Hawaiian culture and urban environment in the Hawaiian context.
Finally, for observation purposes, I was able to participate in many events related to my topic (see Table 3 in Annex 1).
3. 2. Employed methodologies
The ethnographic components of first direct observations and then, participant observations added strengths to my understanding of the Hawaiian culture. The cultural aspects were essential to understand to study it appropriately. The Hawaiian culture has distinct features, and the native Hawaiians have very different cultural practices from the Europeans. Showing respect for their culture is essential, so I had to know how to behave when I met them. The things that I observed being important are always to bring something to eat or to share, to explain your position clearly before starting the interview, ask if there is anything to know before the meeting, and finally, be patient because the pace is different. Everything comes at
the right time, and if not, there is a good reason for that. These were the leading cultural indicators that I learned with my ethnographic field observations. They were successful in most of the cases and helped to show respect to the culture and create a trust relationship with the interviewees.
I conducted in-depth and semi-structured interviews to understand the different points of view of the conflict within the Hawaiian society. The in-depth interviews were held mostly in cafes. This location allowed a certain informality of the conversation. The cafes bring a casual aspect to the formal meetings that I was able to record with my phone. Regarding the consent of recording, I recorded their oral consent for all the interviewees. Being able to record the interviews gave me more freedom and flexibility since I did not always take notes. It also helped with the flow of the conversation by being able to engage fully with the interviewees. I elaborated on the starting structure of the interviews before meeting my respondents. Most of the time, we derived from this initial structure thanks to the in-depth knowledge of interviewees and the level of the trust relationship we built. The flexibility of recording my interviews allowed me to widen my knowledge on some silenced topics. It also gave me a broader understanding of the social dynamics that are going on in Hawai'i.
In the meantime, I also did some shorter close-ended interviews. They help the research process to learn about the general impressions of the canal by the people living around the Ala Wai. These short interviews helped me to comprehend the knowledge around the Ala Wai and the relative affection for the public towards this infrastructural project. All interviews have been recorded and analyzed in a separate document.
The composition of the panel of interviewees is diverse and tends to represent the social and economic dynamics among Hawai’i. The economic situations of the respondents of the different types of interviews are mostly middle income but a part of them have low income or upper-middle-income and very few have a poor income. This economic diversity is
representative of the economic disparities in Hawai’i. Moreover, regarding the ethnicity, some of them identified themselves as native Hawaiians which is representative of the 26,9% of people self-identifying in part or alone as native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the state of Hawai'i according to the Hawai’i Population Characteristics report from 2018, (Hawai’i Research Economic Analysis Division, p.5). Also, a majority of the interviewees identified themselves as white which is slightly higher than 43.4% of this same report.
However, very few people self-identifying in part or alone as Asians were represented in the interviews, which is contrary to the current racial composition of the State of Hawai'i which is currently about 57.2% (ibid).
The participant observations were made throughout my field-study. They have been particularly important at the beginning during the grasping phase and, at the final stage of my research. Making contact and build a trust-relationship took some time. The POAWW grassroots movement participated and organized significant events during the last two weeks of my stay. They invited me to two events where I was able to perform participant observation.
The first event was called "Aloha Ala Wai" which was a morning celebration of the Ala Wai with educational activities. This awareness event was also a demonstration event for the movement. POAWW members met, but also curious Hawaiians joined the event. Finally, for my last day in Honolulu, I participated in a meeting with USACE at the Ka Papa Loʻi O Kānewa, reconstitutions of lo'i kalo patch fields at the University of Hawai'i center of Hawaiian knowledge. The meeting aimed to present the evolutions of the last months' project and show where and what USACE was considering doing after a few months of communication and relative concertation with the inhabitants and the grassroots movement. Since this meeting took place after I completed all my empirical research, I understood each participant's role and their different interests. The participants were either USACE members, members of the City and County of Honolulu's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, POAWW activists, and dwellers concerned by the project. I knew the role of most of the
participants, which was essential to discern the dynamics and the interests of the present people.
Finally, archival research helped me to interpret the historical aspects of the infrastructure and Hawaiian history. Working with archives requires integrating the plural dimensions of collected data before any interpretation. Indeed, the archives' objects were made firstly for a specific purpose, context, and audience, which is not the same as when I investigated. The understanding of this first purpose of creation is essential to acknowledge. Secondly, they were kept and took on a new informative value (Ward, 2020). Archival research provided me the opportunity to understand the evolution of the conflict of the Ala Wai between Hawaiian communities and the USACE coupled with the American government but also the social, urban, and economic evolutions of Honolulu before and since the American presence on Hawai'i. I did nine sessions of three hours and split my time between the state archives and the city library archives. As primary sources, I collected pictures of the territory where Ala Wai has been built. These pictures present the urban and social evolutions around the Ala Wai (see Figures 27, 28 in Annex 2). As secondary sources, I compiled a series of articles of stories (see Figures 2, 3, and 4) linked with the canal and the interactions between the native Hawaiians and Americans in the local newspapers (see figures 29 and 30 in Annex 2). The findings gave me a broader perspective on the topic.
Figure 2. Findings at the State Archives of Hawai'i (Source: Author's own picture, 2020)
Figure 3. Cintel scanner at the City Archives of Honolulu (Source: Author's own picture, 2020)
Figure 4. Example of newspaper bobbins archives at the City Archives of Honolulu (Source:
Author's own picture, 2020)
3. 3 Limits of my research
Some methodological, analytical, and cultural limits influenced this thesis.
The first limit is due to my condition of being European. Indeed, the completion of the analysis is through my lens of a white European woman who did not experience inequalities due to indigeneity before embarking on my field-study. Hawai'i, an archipelago of islands, has limited space which is creating a more significant concentration of expressions of diverse individual and collective demands. These emergences of resurgences of native identities are thus, more visible. As a European from the continent, this proximity brought me to face indigeneity and to see inequalities attached with difficulties in analyzing what was happening. The current resurgence movements of native Hawaiians are tied to emotions (mainly anger, sadness, and hopefulness). This was something that I had to face and to reflect on dissociating it from my emotions, which was confusing.
Secondly, by being an outsider to Hawai'i, it brought difficulties to access and perform the field-study. I faced some skepticism from some of the people from the grassroots movement as well as some of the people I interviewed on the streets mainly because they thought I could be linked to U.S. governmental institutions to get some information from them. That is why building a trust relationship with interviewees was essential from the beginning by showing my goodwill and being respectful and empathic to the interviewee's positionality.
Thirdly, if I had more time for fieldwork, the ethnographical components of my research could have been broadened. During my six weeks in Hawai'i, I benefitted from a limited ethnographic approach. Within this time, I kept a diary that I updated every week with my achievements, how I perceived the conflict and my interactions with people, and what would be the next steps to complete my field study. Moreover, I collected handwritten notes from interviews, meetings, the sound recording of the conversations, and visuals. Because of my lack of time, I might have missed some people who would have a different point of view and would have given me other highlights on the case study. Finally, the native Hawaiians are used to protecting their culture by limiting outsiders to enter their groups. Outsiders need to be invited and inaugurate in a specific manner, which highly limited and slowed down my research pace. All these posed some limitations which I tried to overcome by reading books on Hawaiian culture, participating in different indigenous cultural events, and observing native Hawaiians' behaviors during rituals and everyday life.
4. Case study
4. 1. Context
The Ala Wai area has been the heart of the indigenous cultivation development. The canal encompasses three ahupua'a: Palolo, Manoa, and Makiki (see Figure 1). An ahupua'a determines a slice of the island, which was in the tradition, delimitated from the top of the local mountain to the shore (Minerbi, 1999). The ahupua'a management system was a unique land-use subdivision and, management system for its interlinkage and complementarity.
Divided into three zones, coastal, agricultural, and forest, it was an adaptive model to the specific climate and geography of the islands (Minerbi, 1999). Therefore, this land's division ensures the success of the three-zones by complementing and sustaining the resources of each other (Minerbi, 1999). Multiple streams from the three ahupua'a feed the plain of Waikiki.
Marshlands compose Waikiki in its natural state (see Figure 5). The early settlers of Hawai'i arrived around 600 A.D and converted the area to cultivation. Still today, Hawaiians commonly identify themselves coming from an ahupua'a rather than a city or island.
The Ala Wai was built at the junction of coastal and agricultural land. Glenn and Mc Murty (1995) highlight that the canal is an artificial inlet constructed on swamplands. On that land, was previously grown loi'i kalo and served as the primary food for Hawaiians (Greenwell, 1947). Initially made to drain the wetland, the canal impacted the cultivation and land use, according to Cachola (2019). This author explains that the construction of the Ala Wai modified, in the long run, the cultural and cultivation practices. Indeed, the Ala Wai area was dedicated to agricultural cultivation (see Figures 6 and 7). An extensive irrigation system covered the lo'i kalo and banana fields. These cultivations were the primary food source for the indigenous communities across the Southern Pacific (Minerbi, 1999). In addition, traditional Indigenous planning did not incorporate the notion of land's monetization (Marshall, 1961). That is why, before the arrival of Americans, Hawaiians managed their lands
with the ahupua'a division model based on an exchange system that did not imply money (Beamer, 2014).
However, after the annexation of Hawaii in 1898, Americans deployed a new land-use management. Its goal was to increase the profitability of the lands. The control of water flows severely changed the watershed area of Honolulu. Thus, in 1921, the Ala Wai canal was built on cultivations and the existing irrigation system. The transformation of the watershed into soil helped develop the southern side of the canal, which is now the famous Waikiki beach- front area with luxury hotels, shops, restaurants, and sandy beaches - the significant economic heart of the state of Hawaii, which is dependent on tourism income. Not only this has socio- economic consequences for indigenous communities, but also the controlled nature of the canal has environmental implications too, as climate change threatens the adequacy of the canal and its streams (Okamoto, 2013).
Figure 5. Waikiki and Diamond Head in the back (Source: State Archives Hawai'i, 1916)
Figure 6. Lo'i Kalo field and irrigation system located in Waikiki looking towards Manoa valley (Source: State Archives Hawai'i, 1914)
Figure 7. Banana fields located in Waikiki looking towards Diamond Head (Source: State Archives Hawai'i, 1910)
4.2. The scars of a colonial past
For decades, Hawai'i has suffered from outsiders' geopolitical interests because of its localization at the cross of America and Asia. History showed that the geopolitical situation of Hawai'i did not serve much to the interests of Hawaiians but instead, to Americans (King, 2006). These reasons led to the overthrown of Queen Lili'uokalani in January 1893 by the U.S.
after eight years of application of the Treaty of Reciprocity, which allowed them to use Pearl Harbor for military purposes (Coffman, 2003). After a few years of uncertainties, the Queen
was imprisoned, and the Provisional Government, led by the U.S., took over (Aiku et al., 2019).
For sixty years, the territory of Hawai'i has been annexed. In 1953, the land was declared the 50th state of the U.S. (Coffman, 2003). In the history of Hawai'i, the tipping point of the islands being part of the American territory was the attack of Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941 in the city of Honolulu that led to the military engagement of the U.S. to the second world war (Aiku et al. 2019).
Furthermore, the American Army’s settlement to Hawai'i and especially in Honolulu is, behind the postcard landscape, a militarization process underpinning of colonialism. The militarization process of Hawai'i resulted in being one of the most militarized states of the U.S.
The island of O’ahu has 22.4% of its land military controlled (Niheu et al. 2006). Johnson (2004) defines militarism as a "phenomenon by which a nation's armed services come to put their institutional preservation ahead of achieving national security or even a commitment to the integrity of the governmental structure of which they are part" (pp. 423). Shigematsu and Camacho (2010) are going further by explaining that militarization is an extension of colonialism. They depicted that the goal of winning wars and territories evolved toward a system of self-perpetuation. This means that a cultural penetration in the won regions has been part of the tools used in the process of colonization. As a result, the American culture has been imposed over the Hawaiian one (Marshall, 1961). It led to the oppression of its native population and a cultural appropriation (ibid) (Figures 27, 28, see Annex 2). The spatial and temporal boundaries changed in Hawai'i due to the militarization process (Shigematsu and Camacho, 2010). This context creates a particular militarized and American influences on knowledge production (ibid). These legacies are, in the end, transformed into "an extension of colonialism" (ibid, p.15).
4.3. Defining Waikiki
The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial water channel in Honolulu, which serves as the northern border of the economically powerful district of Waikiki. The canal was commissioned in 1921
by Lucius E. Pinkham, then Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, and was completed in 1928 (see Figure 8). The canal suffered from erosion issues and multiple improvements have been made (Figures 29, 30, see Annex 2). It merged the existing streams into centralized ways to let the water end up in the Ala Wai. This transformation appears between Figures 9 and 10. Ala Wai was created to drain the rice and marsh areas, so that a peninsula was created, which today forms Waikiki. With the modern imposed land-use management, Waikiki has been built out of concrete and became a famous tourist center after the Second World War. Today's remaining green area in Waikiki is the golf course next to the Ala Wai. Moreover, the canal is surrounding the denser area of the state of Hawai'i, Waikiki. Waikiki is composed of luxurious condominiums, hotels (see Figure 11). It is the densest part of O’ahu with more than 90,000 people who live on nearly two km², of which 70% are tourists (Hawai'i Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, 2003). Waikiki is the primary destination for tourists, generating 8% of Hawai'i's gross domestic product (ibid). However, the rapid and massive urbanization of Waikiki created impervious surfaces that could not absorb water on the ground. This phenomenon can be observed in Figure 12 with the red color that shows the vast current imperviousness of the area.
Figure 8. Waikiki Aerial view, unknown (Source: States Archives Hawai'i, 1929)
Figure 9. The Waikiki Plain, lower portion of the Ala Wai watershed prior to 1900 (Source:
Connelly, n.d, https://www.alawaicentennial.org/ESSAY#ONE)
Figure 10. Lower portion of the Ala Wai watershed after the construction of the canal 2019 (Source: Connelly, n.d, https://www.alawaicentennial.org/ESSAY#ONE)
Figure 11. Aerial view of today's Waikiki and the Ala Wai (Source: Peebles Photography/Alamy, n.d, https://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/13/hawaii-ala-wai-canal- project-waikiki-beach-honolulu-454222.html)
Figure 12. The imperviousness (in red) and the canal (in white) (Source: Connelly, n.d, https://www.alawaicentennial.org/ESSAY#ONE)
4.4. Socio-economic structures that surround the Ala Wai
Hawaiians suffer from vast disparities of income between people, and the surroundings of Ala Wai is representative of these inequalities. The Asset Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed (ALICE) is defined by the nonprofit organization United Way of America as being the
minimum living wage to have a decent life and is equal to 28,128$ per year per single adult.
Thus, the ALICE index can establish the socio-economic disparities in the U.S. According to the United Way ALICE Report of Hawai'i from 2015, 48% of the households in Hawai'i live below or at the average of the ALICE. In this same report, we learn that 57% of native Hawaiians are under the ALICE rate, and 10% of them are below 15,000$ per year per single adult (p.19).
Specifically, the Ala Wai area has a particular socio-economic and land ownership structure.
The socio-economic disparities of this area are slightly mixed between the states of poverty and high incomes but depend on the ahupua'a. Thus, Figure 13 highlights the income differences between the residents of the three ahupua'a where the Ala Wai is passing. Waikiki area is mostly composed of tourists, therefore non-permanent residents do not account for the income disparity. In the context of the Ala Wai flood risk management project, Figure 13 shows in blue, the higher income, and in red, the lower-income dwellers. These lower-income households pay fewer taxes than people with higher incomes. During an interview, interviewee
#10 told me that the municipality and the state have more interests to protect the areas where they generate more taxes so that they can ensure revenues (Interview #10, 2020). It means that USACE has more incentives to create solutions to protect more prosperous areas.
Additionally, the postwar paradigm related to disaster and hazard focuses on solving these phenomena in a linear way of thinking. It interacts and reinforces a social vulnerability of the poorest that comes with the probability of adverse outcomes and losses (Cutter, 2020, p.1).
The current disparities and demographic changes in Hawai’i have unequal impacts, especially when it comes to risk disasters. This environmental injustice issue is not new to the U.S and has been pointed by Bullard (1983) in his study of Houston. He showed that the city had used from 1930 to 1970 the poorer areas to put their landfills. The target group of affected people has less economic means to fight back against it, so they become vulnerable to this type of choice and action by the government. Moreover, Pelling (2000) studied the effect of flood
hazards in urban Guyana and depicted a similar inequalities phenomenon. The author shown the vulnerability of peri-urban households compare to the inner city-residents regarding flood hazards due to economic interests. These two case-studies are revealing comparable patterns than in the case of the Ala Wai flood risk management project. Indeed, the Moliili area, a poor area behind Waikiki, will flood if the project becomes real (Interviewee #4, 2020).
Figure 13. Income differences between the neighborhoods around the Ala Wai (Source:
Connelly, n.d, https://www.alawaicentennial.org/ESSAY#ONE)
4.5. Protect Our Ala Wai Watershed Grassroots Movement
The Protect Our Ala Wai Watershed (POAWW) organization is a grassroots movement that has been officially in place since 2019, but people have been active for two years now. It is a 501c organization status and is a self-funded movement. The movement takes its origin in various individual actions that merged into one entity. Composed of local actors who are living across the three concerned ahupua'a, they conduct local actions to sensitize the public but also politicians to the going conflict. They orient their objections towards a lack of information and transparency to the general public from USACE. Additionally, they defend that the project's current plan is presenting threats for the other ahupua'a while protecting Waikiki. Indeed,
some activists calculated that the planned massive walls next to the canal, despite the negative visual aspect, would flood Moiliili (Interview #4, 2020). Likewise, for the detention basins upper streams, which would retain the water, so it does not go to Waikiki but will flood the areas of the upper stream (Interview #3, 2020). Furthermore, POAWW criticizes the absence of nature-based solutions in the proposed plan due to an undervaluation of natural resources.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are proposing adaptive and natural solutions to flood risks.
These solutions are embedded in the system thinking of the ecosystem services (Keestra et al., 2018, p.999). To be successful, the NBS has to integrate a local environmental understanding of the given place. NBS has shown excellent results for river protection and coastal defense (ibid). Mr. Connelly, a Hawaiian architect, is proposing to re-introduce lo'i kalo as NBS as part of the alternative solutions for the Ala Wai flood risk management project (see Figure 17).
4.6. The Ala Wai flood risk management project
The Ala Wai management project is going under a climate change adaptation plan. The Hawai'i's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) started the Ala Wai restoration project in 1994. Four years later, they asked the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to be part of the project, expanding the project to flood control. From 1998 to 2011, they conjointly work with various groups in the community. However, in 2011, USACE was told by the headquarters to come up with a plan or pull out the funds. Thus, USACE started to take away the NBS that the DLNR endorsed and made a plan so the Congress could fund it.
Eventually, in July 2018, the U.S Congress allocated $345 million to complete the task with the non-federal (State and city council) will have to provide $125 million. The money allocated has been a push forward to launch the project quickly.
The funded project plan is to develop eleven structural elements that are composed of one structure which stands alone for the in-stream debris catchment, four detention basins, five debris/detention basins located on the upper stream, and the floodwalls along the Ala Wai
