The Nusantara Capital City
The new city will be the largest legacy of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who aims to bow out of his second and final term in October 2024 from a brand-spanking new presidential palace. Amid steel tracery that emulates the wings of the mythical bird Garuda, the nation’s symbol, the palace will stand firm on a hill deep in the rainforests of East Kalimantan.
Nusantara is designed to be a sprawling forest city dotted with state-of-the-art structures and infrastructure. The city is expected to champion public transportation and walkability, fitted with technology straight out of a science fiction novel, such as automated electric buses and flying cars.
The Jokowi administration is aiming for Aug. 17, 2024, when the nation celebrates its 79th Independence Day, as the official start of relocating the Indonesian capital away from Jakarta, a nearly 500-year-old sinking metropolis notorious for its perennial pollution and traffic problems.
By then, construction is expected to be complete on Nusantara’s Central Government Area (KIPP), the administrative heart of the new capital consisting of the presidential palace, the coordinating ministers’ offices and other key government buildings and housing facilities, ready to welcome thousands of government workers transmigrating from Jakarta.