Reshaping home: Indonesia’s capital migration

Winner of the 2024 Canon Female Photojournalist Grant

In 2014, I came across a news report about plans for a giant seawall in Jakarta Bay. That single moment sparked a journey that would evolve into Sinking Cities, a long-term photographic exploration of one of the most overlooked threats facing urban life: land subsidence. While rising sea levels dominate the headlines, it is often the ground beneath our feet that disappears first. Jakarta may have brought this reality to light, but it is by no means unique. Today, 20% of the world’s cities are sinking.
In 2022, I joined forces with journalist and documentary filmmaker Stephanie Bakker to take the project further, both visually and journalistically. Together, we are documenting the experiences of people in cities faced with both land subsidence and a changing climate. Our aim is not just to highlight the risks but also to explore how people adapt, resist, or reimagine their environments - and what lessons their experiences hold for the world.
Indonesia’s decision to move its capital marks a turning point. Faced with the prospect of Jakarta continuing to sink, the government chose a radical path: to build a new capital city from scratch.

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Muara Angke in North Jakarta is affected by recurring severe tidal flooding, when seawater flows over the seawall into low-lying areas. This phenomenon, known locally as “rob”, has a huge impact on the lives of the population.

Demolition in Kampung Akuarium, North Jakarta. Over 1,000 residents have been displaced to make way for a sea wall and a future tourist redevelopment.

On August 26, 2019, President Joko Widodo announced that Indonesia's capital would be relocated to the island of Kalimantan (Borneo). Construction began on the Main Governmental Area in July 2022. Day-trippers visit the new capital.

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Demolition in Kampung Akuarium, North Jakarta. Over 1,000 residents have been displaced to make way for a sea wall and a future tourist redevelopment.

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Jakarta, with its vibrant neighborhoods (“kampungs”) and towering high-rises, is a city full of life - yet it is slowly disappearing. Excessive groundwater extraction has caused the land to sink at an alarming rate: between 8 and 20 centimeters per year. In some areas, the ground is four meters below sea level. The consequences are becoming impossible to ignore: worsening floods, broken infrastructure, and rivers that no longer flow freely to the sea.
The solution? Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), a bold $32-billion vision for a sustainable, smart city in the forests of East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. It is due to use 100% renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. Planned as the future home of two million people, it is meant to reduce the pressure on Jakarta and symbolically reset the country’s relationship with its environment.
But building a new city is no simple solution. Political sensitivities, limited investment, and construction delays have cast uncertainty over the timeline. Questions remain about the relocation of civil servants, which was initially scheduled for 2024. Nusantara’s wide, empty roads stand in sharp contrast to Jakarta’s crowded streets - a visual metaphor for the distance between vision and reality. Can Nusantara become a thriving capital? Or will it remain a blueprint for a future that never fully materializes?

Cynthia Boll