The new city remains under construction, one year on from its scheduled 2024 inauguration, and has been downgraded from its planned status as a replacement for Jakarta
Indonesia is moving its capital from rapidly sinking Jakarta to Nusantara – a new city under construction in the jungles of Borneo.
But the ambitious $32bn project has been stunted by logistical and financial challenges since it was announced by then-president Joko Widodo in 2019, with inauguration originally slated for 2024.
Debate reignited in September when a new government regulation was publicised downgrading Nusantara’s status from “national capital” to “political capital”.
Officials insist it is a commitment to “support the realisation of Nusantara as the political capital in 2028”, but the budget has also been substantially cut by Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto.
