When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
StrikingNASAimages capture the birth of Indonesia ’s new hobo camp city on Borneo as the nation looks to move its sinking capital .
The artificial satellite shots from April 2022 and February 2024 show a internet of new roadstead on the landscape painting and the construction of buildings in easterly Kalimantan , where Indonesia is make its new capital city , Nusantara .
A view from space of Nusantara in February 2024. We see a vast green jungle with spider-like webs of roads and a city in the middle.
NASA’sEarth Observatoryshared the images , taken by the Operational Land Imager 2 ( OLI-2 ) on theLandsat9 satellite and the OLI on Landsat 8 , as part of its Image of the Day series on Feb. 23 . They play up the progress outgoing President Joko Widodo has made with his ambitious plan tomove Indonesia ’s capitalas well as the environmental impact of building on Borneo .
A drive personnel behind the move is that Jakarta , Indonesia ’s current chapiter on the island of Java , is sinking below ocean tier . A 2011 work published in the journalNatural Hazardsfound that Jakarta typically subsided at a pace of between 0.4 and 6 inches ( 1 and 15 centimeters ) per twelvemonth , with some areas sink by as much as 11 in ( 28 cm ) per class . That steady free fall andrising sea levelsdue to climate change put the metropolis ’s future tense at risk .
Study conscientious objector - authorHeri Andreas , a investigator at the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia who consider Jakarta ’s country remission , told BBC Newsin 2018 that component of the city will be underwater by 2050 .
Before image showing Nusantara in April 2022. Captured by the OLI-2 on Landsat 9.
" The potential for Jakarta to be submerged is n’t a express joy issue , " Andreas said . " If we look at our good example , by 2050 about 95 % of North Jakarta will be inundate . "
Related : Satellite images bring out just how much urban center on the US East Coast are sink
There ’s evidence that the sinking feeling in Jakarta is because of inordinate groundwater extraction . Jakarta relies on groundwater from underground aquifers , and as the groundwater degree drops , it causes the land above to pass , according to the study .
Image taken in February, 2024, shows the development of Nusantara from space. Captured by the OLI on Landsat 8.
The urban center is also dumbly populated and sustain from overcrowding , dealings congestion , hazardousair pollutionand imbibing - water shortage , allot to NASA . Widodo has planned for Indonesia ’s new capital on Borneo to be all dissimilar .
Nusantara will be a sustainable city powered by renewable energy , harmonize to thecity ’s web site , which also states that residential and commercial building will be construct using " strict environmentally friendly building methods . "
Borneo is the third - largest non - continental island in the world and far less populated than Java . The island is split among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . But Kalimantan — Indonesia ’s part — makes up most of the landmass , and there ’s plenty of room to build a brand name new , modernistic metropolis from scratch . There ’s also , however , a lot of nature .
Borneo is a biodiversity hotspot that ’s home to rich ecosystem and many unique specie , which could be endanger by the fresh development even if the city ends up sustainable . Building a metropolis produces emissions and requires supporting base adulterate beyond its borders .
Mongabay , a non-profit-making news show internet site for environmental science and preservation , has reported that the city ’s mental synthesis has head to theclearing of mangrovehabitats and forested areas ofhigh preservation value , as well as conflict with autochthonic biotic community and the potential drop for human displacement .
" If you need me , I say no , because , firstly , the regulatory framework and development planning intelligibly state that the construction of the new capital is aimed to rehabilitate the positioning ’s surroundings that has already been damage , " Safitri say .
Much of the city is being progress on expiring log concession and settlements , and the government wants toreforest barren landsaround the new capital .
— unseeable roadblock that runs through Indonesia finally explain by scientist
— Mexico City could be just months away from running out of drink water
— Alarming collapse of Greenland ice shelves sparks warning of ocean level hike
The New York Timesreported in May 2023 that Widodo has had success in reduce the destruction of Indonesian rainforest for palm oil . However , local leaders have the autonomy to pursue the extraction of lifelike resources , and coal mining has a presence in the state surrounding the Modern capital , the Times report noted .
" Indonesia is notorious for make good law that are ill implemented,“Eka Permanasari , an associate professor of urban design at Monash University , Indonesia , told the Times . " There is the possibility that Nusantara can be a address for future city , but that bet on what ’s on paper being follow out in the field of battle . "
The city is expected to becompletedby 2045 .
