Even as he awaits official confirmation of his election to a second term, Indonesian President Joko Widodo appears to be thinking about his legacy. He’s proposing a $33 billion plan to relocate the capital far away from clogged Jakarta. The idea isn’t as crazy as it sounds. That doesn’t mean it’ll work.
Jokowi, as the Indonesian leader is known, is right to question Jakarta’s long-term viability as a capital city. The population has swollen to 30 million people and, while a new subway system offers some relief at the margins, Jakarta’s roads are plagued by chronic congestion and flooding. Indonesia’s planning minister has even warned about the potential for a pandemic, given poor sanitation. That’s not to mention the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis that periodically beset the country.
The president’s team is also correct that as a member of the G-20, Indonesia should have an administrative capital that functions well and can accommodate the country’s predicted rise as a major economic player. Building one from scratch would help boost Jokowi’s plans to increase infrastructure spending. The government also wants to spread development beyond Java, the island on which Jakarta is located and the source of about 60 percent of gross domestic product.
Other countries — from Malaysia to Australia, Pakistan, Myanmar, South Korea and Brazil — have created new, purpose-built centers for the machinery of government. Their example, though, illustrates the pitfalls Jokowi needs to fear.
It’s one thing to build a more efficient capital. (The plan is for the executive branch, legislature and ministries to shift; Bank Indonesia and investment functions will remain in Jakarta.) It’s another to construct monuments to national vanity...Read More
