WNA Globe

World News by Wild Rose

#New Capital ร—

Muddy yet clear-cut: How Chinese investors are turning jungle into Indonesiaโ€™s new capital

After an hourโ€™s drive through the jungle of Borneo, you reach more jungle. Your rental van from the Balikpapan city airport shakes precariously, navigating a partial bridge washout. A roadside sign admonishes against poaching the endangered sun bears. By hour three youโ€™ve arrived at Indonesiaโ€™s new capital, which is due to start taking over from gridlocked, polluted and seaward-sinking Jakarta in 2028. Welcome to Ibu Kota Nusantara, known locally as just Nusantara or IKN. Eventually, if all goes...