"Indonesia's utopian new capital Nusantara seems to appear out of nowhere. Deep in the forest, a multilane highway abruptly opens up through the trees, leading to a palace topped by a winged eagle that glows under the equatorial sun. But along the rows of futuristic new buildings, Nusantara's boulevards are largely empty save for a few gardeners and curious tourists. Three years since former president Joko Widodo launched the ambitious new capital, meant to replace polluted, congested and sinking Jakarta,"
"About 2,000 civil servants and 8,000 construction workers currently live in Nusantara, far from the 2030 target of 1.2 million. Apartment blocks, ministry buildings, hospitals, roads, water systems and an airport have been built, but much of the city remains under construction. Herdiansyah Hamzah, a constitutional law scholar from Mulawarman University in East Kalimantan, says the project was already a ghost city and the new political capital designation had no meaning in Indonesian law."
Nusantara sits deep in forest with newly built highways, a presidential palace and rows of futuristic government buildings. Construction has produced apartment blocks, ministry buildings, hospitals, roads, water systems and an airport, but much of the city remains under construction and boulevards are largely empty. State funding plunged from $2bn in 2024 to $700m in 2025 with $300m allocated for next year; private investment is over $1bn short of targets. A map downgraded Nusantara to a political capital and the oversight body's leaders resigned in 2024. About 2,000 civil servants and 8,000 construction workers live there, far below the 2030 target of 1.2 million.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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