Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa said on Tuesday that Indonesia’s new capital, to be built on an area of 256,000ha in the East Kalimantan regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara, would pioneer smart city development in the country.

“The new capital city will set a new standard for basic infrastructure and services,” he said during a hearing at the House of Representatives.

The basic infrastructure to be established in the new capital city includes digitised and integrated public transportation, water management, drinkable tap water, waste management, integrated drainage and a digital hub with an integrated information system.

“Our hope is to make all cities in Indonesia great, not just the capital city. If we can drink tap water in the capital city, for example, why not create the same technology in the other cities?” said the minister.

Services for businesses would include smart hospitals, international universities, high-tech industries and green industries, such as solar-powered factories and a new hub for convention and exhibition tourism as well as natural attractions.

Urban development expert Wicaksono Sarosa of Ruang Waktu Knowledge Hub on Sustainable Urban Development, however, noted that building a city, especially a smart city, was not going to be easy and would take time.

“The physical development might be faster, but a city also has a social aspect,” he said, adding it would take 15 to 30 years for a city to become fully alive and vibrant.

Wicaksono cited as an example the city of Songdo in South Korea, billed as one of the world’s smartest and most environmentally friendly cities, but which in reality is also a lonely city. The population is around 100,000, only a third of the 300,000 goal even 15 years after its completion. And with all the virtual convenience, the city lacks human interaction and warmth.

“The government has to have [social aspects] in mind, so that the new capital development would go in the right direction,” he said.

A member of House Commission XI on financial affairs from the Democratic Party, Siti Mufattahah, also asked the government to pay more attention to human aspects in the capital construction plan, as the government promised there would be opportunities for employment in the area.

“We don’t want new jobs to be filled with people from Java again. If so, it won’t be an equal development as promised,” she said.

The government is drafting a law about the new capital, which will include details of its formation as a special region. A draft of the bill has yet to be handed to the House.

Aside from the smart city aspect, Suharso mentioned that the new capital would not be a new province, rather a special region managed by a city manager under the national government. The city manager would be appointed, he said, without elaborating on the details of the appointment mechanism.

Suharso also said the city manager would be directly reviewed by the House. Therefore, there would be no legislative council in the area.

Meanwhile, Jakarta would remain a special region, even though it would no longer serve as the country’s capital.

Wicaksono said the new capital would probably be like Putrajaya, a planned city and administrative centre under the direct jurisdiction of the Malaysian government. Wicaksono said this was clearly different from an autonomous region, where a regional administration existed.

Suharso further explained the timeline of the capital relocation, saying the ground-breaking would commence in 2021, followed by the building of residential buildings and health facilities in 2022 and telecommunication networks and the upgrade of ports and airports in 2023. The state apparatus is predicted to move to the new capital in 2023.

“The inauguration of the newly elected lawmakers in 2024 may take place in the new capital,” he said.

During the hearing, several lawmakers raised questions about funding the megaproject. The government stated that the new capital would cost 466 trillion rupiah ($34 billion) but would only use 86 billion rupiah from the state budget.

But they said the government had not stipulated any detailed scheme on the rest of the funding, which comprises public-private partnership schemes and private investment.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK