Thinking through the Socio-Political Implications of Indonesia’s Capital Relocation with Dr. Deden Rukmana

Picture: Dimas Ardian—Bloomberg/Getty Images

In an interview by the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Dr. Deden Rukmana discusses the socio-political implications of the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara.

It is not just about the environmental and demographic problems of Jakarta; it’s also about Indonesia as a nation. Since independence in 1945, most of the development occurred in Java Island. The idea behind the current location choice is to make it not Java-centric, but Indonesian-centric. Nusantara is located neither in the west side of Indonesia (i.e. Sumatra) nor in the east side of Indonesia (i.e. Papua), but in Kalimantan — relatively in the middle.

All urban planners are skeptical about building a new city from scratch. We need to determine who is going to move there. Of course, this is a government-led initiative, with plans to relocate approximately 16,000 civil servants from Jakarta. Regarding the size of this project, just like you mentioned, it amounts to billions of dollars. The government needs to guarantee funding to prevent this project from being terminated or paused. I’m doubtful of the government’s ability to secure continuous funding because many factors contribute to the continuity of this project. It is, after all, the largest and most expensive project in Indonesian history.

In the past few months, I have seen a hasty process in this capital relocation effort. They are just trying to get things done before President Joko Widodo, who wanted to establish a launch of this new capital during that Indonesian independence ceremony, steps down. You see, there are time frames in which the President tried to complete the project. And because of this time frame, everything is hasty and rushed, including laws made for the regulation of this new city.