Why Indonesia is abandoning its sinking capital to build a city in the jungle

Nature · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Jakarta is drowning, sinking up to 15 centimeters annually as its 30 million residents struggle with pollution and floods. In response, Indonesia is carving a new capital, Nusantara, out of the Bornean rainforest. This ambitious, green-planned metropolis aims to shift the nation's center of gravity away from Java by 2045.

The decision to relocate Indonesia’s administrative heart stems from the environmental crisis gripping Jakarta. With 40 percent of the city now below sea level, excessive groundwater extraction has triggered severe subsidence. These geological pressures, combined with chronic traffic congestion and hazardous air quality, forced the government to look toward the sparsely populated island of Borneo. In 2019, the president announced the move, selecting a site in East Kalimantan characterized by forests and oil palm plantations.

Construction of Nusantara, a name derived from an Old Javanese term for 'archipelago,' began in July 2022. The project is designed to be a walkable, green metropolis powered by renewable energy, with 75 percent of its area remaining forested. The initial phase focuses on government facilities to support an expected population of 500,000. By August 2024, the city had already hosted its first Independence Day celebration, marking a significant milestone in a development plan that spans until 2045.

However, the project faces intense scrutiny regarding its ecological footprint. The development site is a biodiversity hotspot, providing critical habitat for mangroves, proboscis monkeys, and Irrawaddy dolphins. Researchers express concern that the rapid land-use change—visible in satellite imagery as a network of roads carved into previously dense jungle—could permanently disrupt these ecosystems. While the government emphasizes sustainability, the tension between rapid urban expansion and the preservation of Borneo’s unique natural heritage remains a central point of debate for the future of the new capital.

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