Indonesia ’s current capital is in bass trouble . debilitate of its vital groundwater man-made lake , Jakarta has become one of thefastest - sinking citiesin the world . If left to nature , up to 25 per centum of its land could be lost to the sea by 2050 . The city is also wracked with other common problems faced by go forth urban centre , such as weighed down traffic , poor sanitisation , unsafe air defilement , and deficit of imbibition piddle .
To relieve this logistical nightmare , Indonesia has drummed up a plan : relocate the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara in East Kalimantan – a metropolis that does n’t exist yet . This master plan imply the translocation of the chapiter ’s administrative infrastructure , plus around 1.9 million mass , from Indonesia ’s main island Java to the sparsely populated island ofBorneo .
The idea ofreshifting the capitalwas put into Indonesian law in 2022 , when the proposed site of Nusantara was a hobo camp . artificial satellite image shared byNASA Earth Observatoryshow how the arena was a Brobdingnagian green expanse of tropical rainforest in April 2022 .
Roads and hints of infrastructure emerge at Nusantara on 22 January 2025, in this satellite image by Landsat-9Image credit: USGS/NASA
By February 2024 , however , images from the same vantage percentage point show how the settlement is slowly starting to take form . The new satellite icon reveal how soil has been exposed to make way for a connection of roadstead and substructure development amidst the wild backcloth .
TheNusantara websitestates that the first phase of the cap relocation undertaking – set up to conclude in 2024 – will see the country move its country palace and sevens building to the site this year . As per the plan , the President of Indonesia will celebrate the 79thanniversary of the state ’s independence at the site in August 2024 . All being well , construction of the whole metropolis will be done and dust by 2045 .
Judging by the recent satellite imagery , there is still a very long agency to go before Nusantara becomes the lofty capital it dreams to be .
Critics have started to gain out at the Indonesian government , reason there ’s a lack of transparency on the progress of the project .
As ever , money is a job . Manypeople are worriedthere ’s a deficiency of funding behind the project and not enough foreign investors are being pulled by its promise . also , some reviewer have utter doubt over whether there will be access to affordable housing in Nusantara .
There are also grown concerns about its environmental impact . The government claims Nusantara will be lead on 100 pct renewable zip by 2045 while promoting it as a “ sassy , green , beautiful , and sustainable metropolis ” . However , many scientist consider itcould increase deforestationin Borneo and increase Indonesia ’s C output .
“ Deforestation emissions from the Modern cap ’s verbatim ( 30 kilometers [ 18.6 miles ] ) and collateral ( 200 kilometers [ 124.3 miles ] ) footprint could be close to 50 MtCO2e[megatonnes of carbon dioxide tantamount ] and 2326 MtCO2e , respectively , equivalent to 2.7–126 percent of Indonesia ’s 2014 nursery gun expelling , ” said a2020 paperon the topic of Nusantara .
In June 2023,Mongabayshared footage of an orangutang cover the construction site of a planned cost road , clear highlighting the possible break triggered by drop a new city into the middle of a hobo camp .
“ Fortunately , the Modern capital is sit down on a coastal site more than 200 kilometers [ 124.3 miles ] away from the Heart of Borneo ecoregion , which will save Borneo the brunt of the immediate unmediated wallop . However , indirect spacial impacts can be very large , and along with environmental justice issues arising from further marginalization of disadvantaged chemical group , lay out a significant downside to the young capital ’s development that must be preempt , ” the 2020 composition bear on .
