Indonesia’s Giant Capital City is Sinking. Can the Government’s Plan Save It?

Photo by Joshua Irwandi / VII Mentor Program for National Geographic. The skyscrapers of central Jakarta loom to the northwest beyond Kampung Melayu, an urban village crowding the banks of the Ciliwung River—one of 13 that flow through the Indonesian capital. Jakarta, a megacity built on a delta, is sinking rapidly and floods often.

“Indonesia has grand plans for Jakarta—a new capital on Borneo, a giant bird-shaped sea wall to protect Jakarta itself—but they don’t solve the underlying problem.”

See photos by VII Mentor Program photographer Joshua Irwandi in this piece for National Geographic.