Indonesia unveils the planned site of its new sustainable capital city

Indonesia has unveiled the construction site for its new capital city, which proposes to be a sustainable “forest city” and carbon neutral by 2045. The new city, named Nusantara, will be built in Borneo and replace the current capital, Jakarta.

Jakarta is congested, polluted, and has been sinking into the Java Sea at a rate of several inches per year in some of its northern regions. While rising sea levels have been a factor in Jakarta sinking, the fundamental cause of the sinking is the lack of an adequate public water supply, which has led to massive over-extraction of groundwater, according to National Geographic. About 40% of Jakarta is currently below sea level, and estimates suggest that a third of the city could be submerged by 2050.

Nusantara, which will be about twice the size of New York City, is planned to be surrounded by trees, plant-covered rooftops, creeks, parks and forests. However, critics are concerned about the environmental impact, as Borneo is among the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet, and home to endangered wildlife like the orangutan.

Indigenous groups that reside in the region and already lost parts of their land fear that urban sprawl from the new capital could make things even worse, according to The Associated Press.

The Indonesian government has stated that it is being mindful of these concerns, with options for affected groups to be included in the process. Construction workers are already clearing, plowing and building the first phases of the site, with key buildings, such as the presidential palace, expected to be completed by August 2024.