Egypt has a brand new capital city. So does Indonesia. Liberia and Thailand want one, too.

Pollution. Traffic chaos. Broken roads. Flooded streets. Population explosion. Crumbling infrastructure. It’s a jungle out there. And, only the fittest can survive.

Here, I’m not talking about your health but the city you live in. What if the city you live in is decaying or dying? How fit is your city? More importantly, is your country’s capital city future-ready?

Add sea-level rise and global warming to the problems of overcrowding, traffic congestion and worsening air quality and we have a nightmare on our hands.

Disasters, man-made or natural, are forcing Governments everywhere to think about the future of their cities in general and their capital city in particular.

And it’s no different in the Global South.

Fortunately, some countries are doing something about it.

Nusantara is Indonesia’s new capital city-to-be. It’s the jewel in the crown of the 10-year presidency of Joko Widodo. Widodo celebrated the country’s 79th Independence Day, on 17 August, in Nusantara; not Jakarta.

Nusantara is located in the province of East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. About 1 thousand and 2 hundred kilometres from the current capital, Jakarta, which is on the island of Java.

Gurjeet Singh, a former Indian ambassador to Indonesia, says Kalimantan is the geographical centre of Borneo. Borneo is divided among three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island is geographically stable; not vulnerable to volcanic eruption, earthquake or tsunami.

Nusantara will replace a sinking, polluted, overpopulated and congested Jakarta.

Ina Krisnamurthi, Indonesia’s ambassador to India, says Jakarta has many problems such as sea-level rise of an average of eight metres; it is a coastal area, therefore prone to disasters. Also, flooding adversely affects Government and business alike.

Nusantara’s centrepiece is the eagle-shaped presidential palace — winged like the national emblem — the mythical Garuda bird. The Garuda Palace, as the new President’s Palace in Nusantara is called, was the venue of the flag-hoisting ceremony. Widodo, more popularly known as Jokowi, is the first President of Indonesia to attend a State ceremony in the new capital city-to-be.

The 32-billion-dollar mega-project is not without its problems. It has been plagued by construction delays, funding problems and resignations of project leaders. On top of that, the Government employees are hesitant to relocate there. Some 10,000 civil servants have been ordered to relocate to Nusantara from September onwards.

For now, Widodo has deferred signing a presidential decree declaring Nusantara as the new capital city. He has left it to his successor, President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated on 20 October. Krihnamurthi concedes that setting up of the new capital could take up to one or two decades.

Indonesia declared independence in 1945. After more than three centuries of Dutch rule and Japanese occupation during the Second World War of what was then the Dutch East Indies.

The Indonesian Government says that it wants to build Nusantara to spread development away from Jakarta, which has a population of around 12 million people. Widodo resurrected a long-shelved plan to relocate the capital soon after taking office in 2019 after experts warned that Jakarta was sinking.

The east coast of the island of Borneo was chosen as the new site for a capital. For a reason. Krisnamurthi says that the best place to govern Indonesia is in the centre, that is, Nusantara. Western Indonesia, especially Java, is already densely populated. The East of the country is not as developed as the West; therefore Nusantara will enable equitable development for all.

So, the location was strategic. Nusantara is centrally located to better serve Indonesia’s more than 17,500 islands. And, ensure equal development across South-East Asia’s largest economy.

Indonesia’s population and economic activity has long been dominated by the island of Java, of which Jakarta is a part. Java accounts for 58 per cent of Indonesia’s G.D.P.

The plan called for Nusantara to be built in five stages, by 2045. The Government aims to have 1.9 million people living in Nusantara by then, importing a wave of human and industrial activity into the heart of Borneo. Phase-1 comprises a government core, intended for the President, Ministers and key civil servants.

Indonesia’s Government  will fund 20 per cent of Nusantara. It wants 6.13 billion dollars in private investment by the end of 2024. But, as of June 2024, it had received only 3.3 billion dollars — all from domestic backers — because, Nusantara has its fair share of critics. Foreign firms are reported to be reluctant to commit to a city in one of the world’s largest stretches of rainforest, home to orangutans and long-nosed monkeys. They base their opinion on a warning by environmentalists that the planned city will speed up deforestation in the rainforest.

A new capital comes up in the desert

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is a former Army and Military Intelligence chief with a fondness for mega-projects. On 2 April 2024, at a grand ceremony in a yet-to-be-named new capital city that he built in the desert, the 69-year-old embarked on a third term at the helm of the Arab world’s most populous country. The oath marked the inauguration of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital.

Sisi’s supporters back him as a visionary blazing the trail for his “new republic.” The crowning jewel of this Republic is a 58-billion-dollar New Administrative Capital, 45 kilometres east of Cairo. The new capital was announced in 2015.

Sanjay Bhattacharya, a former Indian ambassador to Egypt, has fond memories of living in Cairo but admits that the city needed a makeover.

U.S. space agency NASA has shared photographs of Egypt’s new capital city as seen from space. It shows the Ministry of Defence, called the Octagon. It has a sports stadium — Africa’s second largest stadium. It also has a 10-kilometre-long Green River Park for walking and cycling. It has a state-of-the-art building to house the Parliament. More than 1,500 families have already moved into the new city.

However, critics describe the new capital city as a vanity project and a waste of public money. Two-thirds of Egypt’s 106 million people live on or below the poverty line. The country teetered on the brink of default before wealthy Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, pledged 35 billion dollars in loans and Egypt secured financing agreements with international lenders. But Egypt’s Government insists that it can pass economic reforms demanded by the lenders and unite the country.

Clamour grows

Liberia in Africa and Thailand in Asia are mulling setting up a new capital, too. Severe flooding in Liberia has led a group of lawmakers to propose relocating the capital city away from an overcrowded and poorly managed Monrovia. The flood-prone capital was particularly badly hit, because of overpopulation, poor sewage system and a lack of building regulation.

The proposal to replace the capital is not a new one in Africa’s oldest republic. In 2012, the then-president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, suggested relocating Monrovia to a new city called Zekepa in the centre of the country.

Thailand may have to consider relocating its capital Bangkok because of rising sea levels. Projections consistently show that low-lying Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century.

Global South precedent

Egypt and Indonesia follow a long list of the Global South countries that have developed a new capital city. Yamoussoukro became Ivory Coast’s capital in 1983. Earlier, the capital was Abidjan.

Nigeria’s Abuja is one of a handful of planned capital cities on the African continent. Nigeria’s capital was Lagos until 1991.

Tanzania shifted its capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 1996.

Tanzania’s capital Dodoma, and Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast were also established as administrative capitals towards the end of the 20th century.

Nigeria’s Abuja, Tanzania’s Dodoma and Ivory Coast’s Yamoussoukro occupy geographically central positions in their respective countries.

Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan until the Government moved the capital to Astana in 1997.

Malaysia shifted its administrative capital from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya in 1999. The Prime Minister’s office and residence are located in Putrajaya as is the country’s top court. But the parliament remains in Kuala Lumpur. The development of Putrajaya began in August 1995 and was completed at an estimated cost of 8.1 billion dollars.

Egypt wants to project its new capital as a venue for hosting the 2036 Olympics. It believes that its purpose-built new capital is fit for purpose. Incidentally, India wants to bid for hosting the 2036 Olympics, too. So, did the competition just get tougher?

By – Ramesh Ramachandran (Senior Consulting Editor and presenter with D.D. India)