Hawaii Policy Research Series · Island Security Policy Institute · 2026
Honolulu's homelessness crisis is structurally different from continental cities because island geography eliminates the dispersal option. Individuals experiencing homelessness in Honolulu cannot move to a lower-cost adjacent jurisdiction — the ocean is the boundary. Policy solutions must account for this.
Examines the intersection of homelessness and public safety in Honolulu through an island-specific framework, documenting why continental homelessness policy interventions consistently underperform in island urban environments. This research is produced under the ISPI Research Methodology Guide v4.0 — five pillars: government agency sources, regional organizations, OSINT/Bellingcat two-source verification, the ISPI Global Expert Panel of 78 members across 14 disciplines, and AI synthesis under practitioner review. All ISPI research is free under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Island geography eliminates the regional dispersal dynamic that continental cities rely on — homelessness in Honolulu is structurally contained by the Pacific Ocean
Sweep-and-disperse enforcement strategies that produce measurable short-term reductions in continental cities produce recidivism rates approaching 100% in Honolulu because there is no adjacent lower-cost jurisdiction to disperse to
Housing First interventions with island-specific wraparound services show the strongest documented outcomes for chronic homelessness in island urban environments
Suva, Port Vila, Honiara, and other Pacific island capitals face the same geographic containment dynamic that makes continental homelessness policy solutions structurally inapplicable.
Pulley, Warren. "Homelessness and Public Safety in Honolulu: An Island Framework." Island Security Policy Institute, 2026. https://ispiglobal.com/papers-landing/hi02-homelessness-public-safety.html