The development of the Ewa plain had been a concept that resided in planning documents on dusty shelves for many years before it started really taking shape over the course of the past decade.

There’s still a long way before Kapolei becomes that envisioned “Second City” in reality, but there’s evidence of economic support for one, and signs that it could flower into something beyond a mere “bedroom community.”

The bedrooms will be there, of course, with the addition of new subdivisions and whole residential neighborhoods. They have been greeted with valid fears of traffic and regrets over the loss of farmland, but the population of Kapolei is what’s making the retail sector bullish on its potential.

The signs for consumer spending are encouraging, when viewing Oahu more broadly. In Honolulu a new wing has opened at Ala Moana Center with a raft of new outlets positioned to capi-talize on the holiday season. But much activity on the West Side indicates that Honolulu won’t be the only focal point of shopping for long.

Ka Makana Alii is the East Kapolei mall under construction that is expected to rival Ala Moana and Pearlridge center in size, once it’s built out fully on the 67-acre site.

The first phase, with 725,000 square feet of retail space, is about half-built already, with Macy’s and H&M staked out in anchor positions.

The complex also will encompass a six-story Hampton Inn & Suites hotel and a Consolidated Theatres multiplex cinema as well as multiple other tenants.

Its developers’ stated aim is to make it a town center for West Oahu, and that’s certainly how it seems to be shaping up.

However, it takes more than retail to sustain a true city, so government officials and planners must continue to look for opportunities to create the critical mass this will require.

The University of Hawaii-West Oahu, as the city builds out, should become a key employer and generator of other job opportunities keyed to its degree and vocational training programs — applied sciences, health care administration and creative media, for example.

Other agencies of state government have opened in Kapolei, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation moved its regional headquarters from downtown Honolulu to nearby Kalaeloa.

At that former Navy base, the airfield has begun its conversion to commercial civilian use with Mokulele Airlines making its interisland circuits.

Kalaeloa may be slow-walking its way to redevelopment by the state, but there are gains being made on that front, too.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, the city and the state Department of Transportation are entering into an agreement to improve and transfer part of Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue to the city, providing an alternative arterial route for people who live and work in the area.

And just makai of that roadway, the private partners of HCDA, Hunt Development Group, two years ago issued a strategic plan for resuscitating the old Barbers Point facilities as a “downtown” collection of businesses centered on “main street,” Saratoga Avenue.

Finally, the completion of the 20-mile rail link to Honolulu, while conceived as a alternative route for Leeward residents heading into the urban core of Honolulu, won’t eliminate the commuting mess. However, giving Kapolei residents more reason to stay off the road, working and shopping close to home, should provide further traffic relief.

And with the rail, a Kapolei that’s planned to incentivize more “magnet” industries and attractions might even reverse the tide somewhat — giving East Oahu “townies” a reason to venture westward, for a change.