Indonesia builds new capital city billed as futuristic, green

PENAJAM PASER UTARA, Indonesia — Orange-red ground has been broken in the jungle of East Borneo, where the Indonesian government has begun construction of its new capital city.

Officials promise a “sustainable forest city” that puts the environment at the heart of development and aims to be carbonneutral by 2045. But the project has been plagued by criticism from environmentalists and Indigenous communities, who say it degrades the environment, further shrinks the habitat of endangered animals such as orangutans and displaces Indigenous people that rely on the land for their livelihoods.

Indonesia began construction of the new capital in mid-2022, after President Joko Widodo announced that Jakarta — the congested, polluted current capital that is prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea — would be retired from capital status.

Plans for the new capital — about twice the size of New York City — are grand. Officials tout the creation of a futuristic green city centered on forest, parks and food production that utilizes renewable energy resources, “smart” waste management and green buildings.

Digital renderings shared by the government show a city surrounded by forest, with people walking on tree-lined sidewalks and buildings with plant-covered rooftops surrounded by walking paths, ponds, clean creeks and lush forest.

In its current state, the new city is far from the tidy finish presented by its planners, but there is progress. Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s minister for public works and housing, said in February that the city’s infrastructure is 14% completed.

Some 7,000 construction workers are clearing, plowing and building the first phases of the site. Worker dormitories, basic roads and a helipad are already being used. Construction of key buildings — such as the presidential palace — is expected to be completed by August 2024.

The government has said it’s working to be considerate of the environment. Signs of a more-conscious approach to construction are visible: Trees are fenced off to protect them from machinery, a plant nursery has already started for the replanting process officials promise and industrial forest surrounds the site.

But with construction set to ramp up this year, environmentalists warn building a metropolis will speed up deforestation in one of the world’s largest and oldest stretches of tropical rainforest. The island has already been compromised by palm oil plantations and coal mines.

Dwi Sawung, an infrastructure specialist at the Indonesian Forum for Living Environment, an environmental nongovernmental organization that has been monitoring the new capital project, said the government’s plans lack consideration of the region’s unique wildlife such as orangutans and sun bears. The new city cuts through an important animal corridor.

ACHMAD IBRAHIM/AP Tourists take a selfie at the site of Indonesia’s future capital city, under construction in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.