Grapevine

By Al Jazeera
Aug 19, 2024

Nusantara: Celebrations planned in Indonesia’s costly ‘symbol of progress’

The new capital is the pet project of outgoing President Joko Widodo and is taking shape on the island of Borneo.

This story was amended to remove the reference to the city's inauguration. It is instead hosting Independence Day celebrations for the first time.

Medan, Indonesia – Nusantara, the new capital city of Indonesia, will host Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, as the country looks to a future without Jakarta as its capital.

The country declared independence from the Dutch in 1945 with Jakarta as its seat of government and administrative centre.

But the city in western Jave has grown into a heaving metropolis of at least 11 million people, and is plagued by some of the world’s worst traffic jams, thick smog and overcrowding.