Utopian Promise: Building Indonesia's New Capital

Indonesia is currently building an unprecedented government-led mega project for its new capital city, Nusantara. Located in the south of Kalimantan, Nusantara is visioned to be a world-class city that balances its futuristic ambition with a promise to be a smart, green, zero-carbon model.

Stretching around 420,000 ha, Nusantara was created during President Jokowi’s administration. The idea of having a proper capital city can be traced back to the colonial era, when the Dutch colonial government planned to move its capital from Batavia to Bandung until it stopped in 1942 due to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia.

Nusantara has now become the laboratory of architecture, inviting new thinking and a new direction for a zero-carbon city and a livable urban life. Various national and international architects have designed many interesting buildings that are worth sharing.

Many questions arise from the public perspective, questioning the urgency for Indonesia to build a capital city in a battered post-COVID economy. The building of Nusantara also became a main topic in a heated Presidential election debate recently. The talk will discuss the challenges of fulfilling this ambitious vision from a planning and design perspective.

Will Nusantara deliver its utopian promise?

Learn more from Ridwan Kamil, Curator of Indonesia’s New Capital, Nusantara, at our upcoming NUS Cities Public Lecture!

Ridwan Kamil

Indonesian Architect and Politician

Date: 20th May 2024, Monday

Location: NUS SDE3 LT421

Time: 6:30 p.m. SGT - 8:30 p.m. SGT