Indonesia: Jakarta is Sinking | ARTE.tv Documentary

Summary — scientific concepts, discoveries and natural phenomena

Key natural hazards and processes

• Land subsidence: parts of Jakarta are sinking rapidly because groundwater is pumped continuously for urban use, weakening and compressing the ground.
• Sea-level rise and climate change: rising ocean levels are projected to inundate much of Jakarta by mid-century if no major mitigation occurs.
• Flooding and storm impacts: regular floods (including a major event in 2007 when a protective seawall collapsed) cause deep inundation, displacement and fatalities.
• Deforestation and habitat loss on Borneo: decades of logging, palm-oil plantations and mining have removed much of Borneo’s forest, reducing biodiversity and fragmenting habitat.

Local water and urban-environment interactions

• Water scarcity in a coastal megacity: despite proximity to the sea, residents in low-income coastal districts lack reliable clean water — they must buy delivered water because groundwater and municipal supply are inadequate.
• Urban demand for water and geotechnical effects: continuous extraction of groundwater to meet urban demand accelerates subsidence, increasing flood and inundation risk.

Planned mitigations — engineering and urban-design responses (Nusantara new capital project)

Planned interventions and design concepts presented in the film include:

• Relocate the national capital from Jakarta to a new planned city (Nusantara) in Borneo to reduce pressure on Jakarta and avoid inundation risks.
• Large-scale construction combined with reforestation to create a “green” tropical-forest city.
• Green-building and biomimicry concepts: designs propose buildings inspired by forest structure (elevated structures to allow water flow and ventilation; buildings “lifted” to let water pass beneath).
• 10-minute city concept: compact, walkable neighborhoods where daily needs are within a 10-minute walk; emphasis on bicycle and pedestrian mobility and reduced car traffic.
• Wildlife corridors: corridors to allow animal movement amid development, intended to mitigate habitat fragmentation.

Phasing and priorities:

1. Move security forces and civil servants first.
2. Then relocate a wider public, with infrastructure and services (schools, hospitals) built out in phases.

Criticisms, environmental and social risks

• Environmental cost: building a capital inside one of the world’s oldest rainforests will further fragment habitat in an area already heavily deforested (the film cites >50% removed).
• Indigenous and local-community impacts: displacement of indigenous groups (Balik/Balic people and other communities); destruction of cultural sites (for example, a cemetery); reported intimidation and violence during land clearance; loss of ancestral land and livelihoods.
• Biodiversity loss: conversion of forest and new infrastructure threatens local wildlife despite proposed corridors.
• Technical and geotechnical concerns: constructing a major city on unstable soils raises feasibility questions (need for soil stabilization and foundation engineering).
• Economic and governance concerns: very high fiscal cost and debt risk; potential concentration of benefits to powerful actors/landowners; skepticism about whether promised services (schools, hospitals) will be sufficient for relocating civil servants and families.

Concrete events, figures and data mentioned

• Jakarta population: approximately 31 million inhabitants in the metro area (as cited).
• 2007 seawall collapse: hundreds of thousands relocated and about 80 deaths reported.
• New-capital construction workforce: about 27,000 workers on the site.
• Relocation numbers: government plans cited ~1.5 million public officials to move (first-phase priorities include police, military and civil servants).
• Indigenous presence: around 20,000 people from the Balik ethnic group live in the planned area (reported as affected).
• Timeline: construction started about two years before the film; some facilities (for example, a hospital) were intended to be operational by August 2024 (as stated in the footage).

Lists and methodologies (as presented in the film)

Elements of the Nusantara plan (summary):

• Create a green, traffic-free/low-traffic capital with pedestrian and bicycle priority.
• Implement reforestation to restore tropical forest cover.
• Design buildings using biomimicry (elevated structures, natural ventilation).
• Organize neighborhoods as 10-minute districts for daily needs.
• Establish wildlife corridors to reduce habitat fragmentation.
• Phase relocation: move security forces and civil servants first, then the wider public.

Researchers, sources and people featured

Named or shown in the subtitles and footage:

• Joko Widodo — President of Indonesia (policy decision to move the capital).
• Sofian Sibarani — urban planner / designer of the new-capital concept.
• Muhammed Roni — resident of Muara Baru (coastal Jakarta resident interviewed).
• Sibin — leader of the Balik (Balic) tribe (indigenous community leader).
• Abdul Ga’an — environmentalist from WALHI (Indonesian Forum for the Environment), presented as opposing the move.
• “Life Pro for you” — French organization mentioned helping water vendors / small businesses (subtitle name uncertain).
• Tempo magazine / Koran Tempo — investigative reporting outlets cited criticizing the project.
• Unnamed: workers and construction-site personnel (hospital builder, tower operator “Ken”), local residents and ecologists/independent experts quoted in the film (some unnamed in the subtitles).

Note on names and spellings: names and organization spellings follow the subtitles; some proper names and organization names are unclear or transliterated imperfectly in the auto-generated captions.