Facing the unknown: a study on the perspectives and experiences of Sepaku’s villagers on Indonesia’s capital relocation

Abstract

Indonesia is building a ‘smart and sustainable forest city’ named Ibu Kota Negara (IKN) in East Kalimantan, Borneo Island, to replace the disaster-prone, polluted, and congested Jakarta as its new capital city in 2024. To do so, the Indonesian government aims to transform tens of thousands of predominantly rural lands, currently inhabited by tens of thousands of people, into urban areas. This study aims to fill the empirical knowledge gap concerning local perspectives and experiences on new cities. Through focusing on affected local populations, the study investigates how the early stages of the project relate to inclusive development, specifically the safeguard ‘Free, Prior, and Informed Consent’, and the ‘right to the city’ concept. Using a qualitative case-study research design, through household interviews and focus group discussions, this study focuses on the local mechanisms of a water management project in the Sepaku village. The results show that the new city evolves in nonlinear and fragmented ways, resulting in a co-occurrence of rural and urban activities that blur the rural-urban divide. Second, in several cases, the proposed land acquisition for the project did not align with the international safeguard ‘Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.’ Third, divergent perspectives were found, often showing the project’s inability to adequately involve local people. Fourth, the divergent aspirations and needs unveiled why some farmers aspire to maintain their current livelihoods while the younger generation wishes to participate in the new city. Altogether, these results reveal the early challenges surrounding inclusive land governance and people’s right to the new city. Finally, several suggestions reveal what can be done better to include local populations and what future research should assess.