NUSANTARA, Indonesia — Deep in the forest of Indonesia's Borneo island, construction is underway for a new futuristic capital, powered by renewable energy and run by advanced technology. Indonesia's current capital, Jakarta — now the world's largest city — is polluted and overcrowded, and it's sinking. So in 2019, Indonesia's government announced a bold plan: to build Nusantara, a new capital, from scratch. The site is located about a two-hour drive away from the neighboring city of Balikpapan. Construction of Nusantara began in 2022, and the city's core government district is nearly complete. The area features a sprawling green park surrounded by white office buildings with plants draping over their balconies, a bank that looks like a spaceship and the city's centerpiece — a 250-foot-tall metal structure shaped like Garuda, an eagle-like mythical bird that is the country's national emblem. Its 500-foot wingspan towers over the presidential palace. But there are concerns that progress on this more than $30 billion project has been slow. Logistics, funding challenges and a presidential election have delayed the timeline. And local critics worry that construction could harm the environment and nearby Indigenous populations. Today, the broader metro area includes around 150,000 people — a mix of construction workers and long‑established villages. But the new city's core is home to only about 10,000 residents, including roughly a thousand civil servants. Nusantara was a signature project of former President Joko Widodo. Since the current leader, Prabowo Subianto, assumed office in October 2024, some critics of the projects have questioned whether he shares the same enthusiasm. State funding for the project was cut in half for 2026 compared with the previous year. Prabowo made his first visit to the site this January, more than a year after taking office. The "political capital" by 2028 The uncertainty has