The huge £26.2bn city at risk of becoming a ‘ghost town’ | World | News
Nestled deep in the jungles of East Kalimantan on Borneo Island, Indonesia’s futuristic new political capital rises like a vision of modern ambition and is expected to be fully completed by 2028. Highways through the jungle lead to towering Government buildings and the presidential Garuda Palace, whose iconic winged design glistens in the tropical sun. But despite its grandeur, the streets of the £26.2bn city of Nusantara remain largely deserted.
three years later President Joko Widodo unveiled the multibillion-dollar project aimed at replacing the overcrowded city of Jakarta, which currently holds the title of the largest city on the planet and is the fastest-sinking city with a population of 42 million. city in the world. Construction of the city began three years ago and by 2045 the capital is expected to be twice the size of New York City but designed to produce zero carbon emissions.
From street lighting to electric buses, almost every aspect of urban life is expected to be powered by solar energy.
But under President Prabowo Subianto, who took office in October 2024, government funding for new capital has been reduced from £2 billion in 2024 to £700 million in 2025; Only £300 million has been allocated for 2026.
Cutting-edge technology will be at the heart of the city’s operations, with biometric scanners monitoring access in public buildings and artificial intelligence managing everything from traffic flow to energy consumption.
Private investments have also fallen far short of expectations, causing construction to slow down and the city moving away from its original target of 1.2 million inhabitants by 2030. Guard reported.
Earlier this year, in May 2025, Nusantara was downgraded from national capital to “political capital” and this change was only made public in September.
About 2,000 civil servants and 8,000 construction workers currently live in the city; this is a small portion of the targeted population. Most of Nusantara is reportedly under construction, although apartment buildings, ministry buildings, hospitals, roads and even an airport have been completed.
Herdiansyah Hamzah, a constitutional law expert at Mulawarman University, argued that the city was already a “ghost city” and that the political capital label carried no real legal weight.
On the other hand, officials remain optimistic. Nusantara Capital Authority chairman Basuki Hadimuljono insists the government’s resolve remains unwavering. He added that the funding was not “cut” but “reallocated.”
Environmental concerns add another layer of complexity. According to NGO Walhi, the construction of roads, ports and infrastructure has cleared over 2,000 hectares of mangrove forest. Local indigenous communities, including the Balik people along the Sepaku River, report increased flooding and reduced access to clean water since treatment plants were built nearby.
The government denied these allegations and defended the project, stating that only a quarter of the 252 thousand hectare area would be developed and the rest would be protected as green areas.
Officials argue that the city could eventually ease the economic and political dominance of Java, Indonesia’s most populous island, while also serving as a showcase for Indonesia’s vision of a sustainable, “smart forest” city.
