One of the world's biggest cities is sinking, so they're spending $35 billion to build a new capital from scratch. Take a look at Nusantara.
Firdaus Wajidi/Anadolu/Getty Images
- Indonesia plans to relocate its capital from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara.
- The new city will cost $35 billion and won't be finished until 2045.
- The climate crisis has prompted the move, with Jakarta at risk of sinking due to rising sea levels.
Jakarta, on the northwest coast of Java at the mouth of the Ciliwung river, is Indonesia's capital and its biggest city.
It's home to some 10.6 million people and about 30 million in the metropolitan area. It's also sinking, with about 40% of the area now below sea level.
The Indonesian government plans to move the capital to Nusantara, a new city being built on the eastern coast of Borneo, about 870 miles north of Jakarta.
It will cost an estimated $35 billion and won't be finished until 2045. About 6,000 government workers are expected to move there in time for the next president's inauguration in October, however.
The decision is not without precedent. Brazil shifted from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1960, while Abuja replaced Lagos as Nigeria's capital in 1991.
But this is the first time that the climate crisis has played a role in the process. In recent years, rising sea levels have made Jakarta the world's fastest-sinking megacity, which sparked the Indonesian government's decision to move the capital.
Take a closer look at Nusantara.
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In August 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo approved a plan to move the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara.
The site in East Kalimantan was chosen because it's close to the sea and there's a relatively low risk of earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions.
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This mosque in Jakarta has fallen victim to rising sea levels. Excessive groundwater withdrawals have contributed to subsidence rates of up to six inches a year, and 40% of the city is now below sea level.
Environmental experts warn that a third of Jakarta could be submerged by 2050 if subsidence continues at the current rate.
Indonesia's government is also spending tens of billions of dollars on measures to try to stop flooding in Jakarta.
Earth Observatory/NASA
Researchers at NASA and partner agencies used data in 2020 to produce this map to identify areas of Jakarta under threat of being flooded.
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It was chosen to reflect President Widodo's geopolitical vision and evoke Indonesia's archipelagic nature. The country's 276 million people are spread across more than 17,000 islands.
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Borneo is known for its 140 million-year-old rainforests, home to endangered native species including the Bornean orangutan.
About three-quarters of the island is Indonesian territory, with Malaysia and Brunei accounting for the remainder. Borneo as a whole has a population of about 23 million people.
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Widodo sent some 100,000 workers to start building Nusantara, and the number later rose to between 150,000 and 200,000 as construction ramped up.
Earth Observatory/NASA
The satellite image was taken by the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9.
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A network of roads has been carved into the forest since 2022 so that the construction of government facilities and other dwellings can begin. The initial population is expected to be about 500,000, according to the project website.
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Policymakers have claimed that Nusantara will be a "green, walkable" metropolis, powered entirely by renewable energy by 2045.
They plan to build a 50-megawatt solar plant and only electric vehicles by the end of this decade.
Tony Blair Institute
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Abu Dhabi's crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan are both on the steering committee for Nusantara. In October, the Tony Blair Institute signed a deal to build a research center in the new capital.
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While the city is expected to cost about $35 billion, the Indonesian government has only committed to providing about 20% of the funds, and is struggling to find other sources of finance. In March 2022, Japan's SoftBank pulled out of the project.