Indonesia will soon have a new capital, which does not exist now. Now that the Indonesian parliament has approved the project, construction is anticipated to begin soon. Nusantara, the Indonesian name for the capital, will erect in Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo. Jakarta, the country’s present capital, is one of Southeast Asia’s largest cities, with a population of over 10.5 million people and one of the region’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. The concept of shifting the capital has been explored by various presidents over many years. It appears that current President Joko Widodo (commonly known as Jokowi) will be the one to accomplish it.
The plan was put in motion in 2019, shifting the attention away from Java — the island where Jakarta is located – and toward the remainder of the Indonesian Archipelago, which will know as Nunasantara. The Jokowi administration wants the new city to be more than just a political center; it also wants it to be a center for advanced research and technology, with a focus on sustainability. Critics have said that the establishment of a new city does not scream sustainability, and that there has been little public and environmental input, with some concern over forest loss for the new capital’s construction.
The winning design contest idea, however, is “nature-inspired” and focuses on a city constructed on rehabilitated palm oil plantations. In addition, the plan uses less than half of the 5,600 hectares set aside by the government. Tropical woods and wetlands will make up the balance of the design. A portion of the city will be car-free, with tram public transportation, and will be compact enough that people may walk from one end to the other in under an hour. It will connect to the region’s two key hubs: Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan province, and Balikpapan, the region’s largest city.
Construction planned to start soon, probably within a few months. The city’s vital infrastructure will be ready by 2024, which considered the most critical stage. By 2045, the final phase of the building will be completed. “We will concentrate on the priorities from 2022 through 2024… We recognize that we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, and we will continue to focus on these issues. However, new capital development can also be classified as a project for economic recovery “Sri Mulyani, the Minister of Finance, said in a news conference, as reported by Channel News Asia.
