The under-construction city of Nusantara is set to be inaugurated as Indonesia‘s political capital in 2028, having been scaled back from its original plan to replace Jakarta as the country’s new capital city.
Masterplanned by Indonesian studio Urban+, a number of government buildings and apartment blocks have been constructed at Nusantara, but the city’s development has fallen behind its planned 2024 inauguration.
Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, plans to build the city were first announced in 2019 by former Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who wanted to relocate the fast-sinking Jakarta.
Nusantara is set to become Indonesia’s political capital in 2028
According to The Guardian, state funding for Nusantara has dropped since president Prabowo Subianto was sworn in in October 2024, falling from £2 billion in 2024 to £700 million in 2025, and with £300 million allocated for 2026.
With a small population made up of civil servants and construction workers, The Guardian also reported that some believe the city could become a ghost town.
Prabowo downgraded the city from Indonesia’s national capital to political capital in May, which was announced publicly in September.
The city was originally intended to replace Jakarta as the capital city
Construction on the city’s buildings commenced in 2023, and so far, it has completed ministry buildings, hotels, a bank, and apartments for civil servants, police, and the armed forces.
Work has also been completed on Garuda Palace, a presidential office topped with swooping bird wings.
Set to become Indonesia’s political capital in 2028, construction is underway on the vice president’s office, additional ministry offices, hospitals, and judicial and legislative buildings, and there are plans to construct more ministry buildings, apartments, embassies, public transport, a botanical garden, and districts for sports, culture, education and health.
“The government’s intent is to establish Nusantara as our political capital of Indonesia in 2028 when the legislative and judicial council buildings are established,” Urban+ founder Sibarani Sofian told Dezeen.
It was masterplanned by Urban+
Urban+ designed Nusantara as a “smart forest city”, intending to preserve the surrounding natural environment and provide amenities to residents within a 10-minute distance via walking, cycling or public transport.
“Our former president Joko Widodo’s goal for Nusantara was to be a ‘transformative effort’ to elevate the civilisation of Indonesia towards the Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision,” said Sofian. “This translates to three pillars: Indonesian nationalism and identity, green and sustainable, and smart and future-reaching.”
“Our goal is to introduce a new type of urbanism and architecture that can answer to these high key performance indicators,” he continued.
“It’s quite a task, and we need to navigate and push beyond business as usual, using various tech tools, and come up with a set of principles that can help to shift the current paradigm into a new one.”
A presidential palace topped with wings is among the completed buildings
A recent study by the UN found Jakarta, which is rapidly sinking below sea level, to be the world’s most populous city with a population of 42 million, overtaking Tokyo. The study also predicted Jakarta’s population to grow to 51.8 million by 2050.
Projects recently completed in Jakarta that have been featured on Dezeen include a community centre partly constructed from plastic waste, and an office building with breezeways designed for passive cooling.
Egypt is also building a new capital city 45 kilometres to the east of Cairo, which contains Africa’s tallest building, biggest mosque, second-biggest stadium, and the largest cathedral in the Middle East.
The photography is courtesy of Urban+.
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