Nusantara: Indonesia Builds a New Capital

Indonesia has a new capital city deep in the lush forests of Borneo. Nusantara is planned as a forest city with 75 per cent of the land set aside to provide access for wildlife; buildings will be connected by walkways to encourage pedestrians; and there is a commitment to green energy and transport from the start.

Nusantara’s architects and planners, all of them Indonesian, have set out a dream of a global city to be built over the next two decades, growing to house a population of four million. The ambition is a city that represents the diversity of Indonesia and balances economic development across the archipelago, which for decades has been concentrated on Java.

Indonesia is taking a $40-billion gamble on whether moving the capital will help alleviate the problems of Jakarta and provide other benefits such as balancing economic development. Purpose-built capitals have a poor record of achieving their ambitions; they often end up as soulless monuments to oppressive regimes. They are also both a symptom and a driver of bad government by leaders who become isolated from their people. Will the remoteness of Nusantara cut Indonesians off from the leaders at a time when their quality of democracy is in decline? As the world’s largest Muslim country and the third largest democracy, it is a question that matters beyond its shores.