Lost habitats True cost of a city built from scratch

Nusantara is billed as a state-of-the-art capital city that will coexist with nature but not all residents of Borneo's Balikpapan Bay are happy

- Rebecca Ratcliffe and Richaldo Hariandja

In eastern Borneo, beyond the thick jungle forests, an epic building project is under way. Giant trucks, cement mixers and diggers lumber along battered roads. Cranes tower overhead. Yellow dust clouds the air, caking everything in reach: the leaves of eucalyptus trees, the sides of passing vehicles and the homes of nearby residents.

This site a 2,560 sq km area encompassing industrial plantations, mines, Indigenous communities and agricultural land-is to form Nusantara, Indonesia's new administrative capital.

The decision to move the capital to a new site was taken because Jakarta is rapidly sinking. In a single year, some areas of the capital subside by as much to 11cm, a problem driven by excessive groundwater extraction and rapid urban development. On top of this, the climate crisis is making storm surges and extreme weather more likely, and causing sea levels to rise.

By 2050, about 25% of the capital could be submerged if there is no effective action, according to a study by the government's National Research and Innovation Agency.

Nusantara's location, in the province of East Kalimantan, means the new capital will be at the centre of Indonesia's archipelago of 17,000 islands, to help spread power and wealth more evenly across the country.

The development is welcomed by many in the wider province, who hope it will bring investment and better infrastructure. Officials promise the capital will be a modern, sustainable forest city that coexists with nature and is carbon neutral by 2045.

However, critics say the development is too ambitious and rushed. They also warn it could come with high costs, not only to the state - which will fund 20% of the $32bn bill - but also to the surrounding environment and local Indigenous communities.