Incredible photographs have captured Indonesia’s new capital beginning to take shape.
Roads and buildings for Nusantara, which aims to replace the slowly sinking city of Jakarta, have begun to sprout on the eastern coast of Borneo.
Nusantara will not be completed until 2045, but 6,000 government workers will move to the new capital when the next president is inaugurated in October.
The project will cost $35 billion in total and will house around 1.9 million residents once it is fully completed.
Incredible photographs have captured Indonesia’s new capital beginning to take shape
The new 256,142-hectare government city, which will house about 500,000 people, is estimated to cost $35 billion and requires around 200,000 workers to build it on a site about 2,000 kilometers from Jakarta.
Some 200,000 workers are currently building the new city which spans a staggering 256,142 hectares and is located around 2,000 kilometers from Jakarta.
The relocation of the capital was first addressed by President Joko Widodo in April 2019, who cited rising sea levels and severe congestion as the main reasons for the move.
About 10.6 million residents live in the city, while 30 million reside in metropolitan areas.
Global warming has caused sea levels to rise, leaving about 40 percent of the region below sea level.
Experts predict that up to a third of the city could be underwater by 2050.
Widodo said the new capital will be one “where people will be close to any destination, where they will be able to bike and walk everywhere because there are no emissions.”
“We want to build a new smart metropolis that can be a magnet for global talent and a hub of innovation,” he said in a speech outlining his vision.
Nusantara is close to the sea and is located in an area that has a relatively low risk of earthquakes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions.
‘Nusantara’, which means ‘archipelago’, aims to be a model of an environmentally friendly city and will be powered by a 50 megawatt solar plant and is planned to allow only electric vehicles by the end of this decade.
Questions about how the city will be paid for remain unanswered, as the Indonesian government has only committed to providing about 20 percent of the funding and is struggling to find other sources of funding.
Budget details have not yet been revealed in a presidential decree, although previous reports have put the project’s costs at $35 billion.
The new city will be governed by a body called the State Capital Authority, with leaders appointed for five-year terms directly by the president.
Roads and buildings for the new capital Nusantara, intended to replace the slowly sinking city of Jakarta (pictured), have begun to emerge from the cleared jungle area of the island of Borneo.
Workers complete the construction of a multi-story building in Nusantara
In building its capital, Indonesia is following in the footsteps of countries such as Australia and the United States.
Australia’s federal parliament moved from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927 and Washington was established as the capital of the United States on 16 July 1790.
More recent capital relocations include Malaysia’s move of its government to Putrajaya from Kuala Lumpur in 2003, while Myanmar moved its capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw in 2006.
Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1960, while Abuja replaced Lagos as the capital of Nigeria in 1991.
The new city will be governed by a body called the State Capital Authority, with leadership appointed to five-year terms directly by the president.
Budget details have yet to be revealed in a presidential decree, although previous reports have put the project’s costs at $33 billion.
