Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced a plan to move the nation’s capital. While there have been various reasons that nations have relocated their capitals, there’s a serious reason for this move: The city is sinking. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, Jakarta is one of the fastest-sinking cities in the entire world.
A new capital will be established on the island of Borneo. As of now, it’s estimated that the move will cost around $34 billion and could take 10 years.
There are two main reasons for this decision. First of all, sections of the city are sinking between three and 10 centimeters every year. This can be extremely hard on infrastructure and building foundations. Jakarta is also on the coast, meaning that the risk of flooding is very real. Specifically, high-tide seawater flooding is a risk, but stormwater flooding (brought on by rain) is also an issue.
View the complete August 28 article by Marissa Higgins on the Daily Kos website here.