Conclusion: Shaping Nusantara

Summary

“The future is neither predicted, nor forecasted. The future is shaped.”

The Many Faces of Foresight, Miles et al. (2008)

This book has provided a collection of academic writings examining the various aspects of the historic and momentous relocation of Indonesia's capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara. In this sense, this edited volume serves as the first academic summation of the myriad challenges and opportunities involved in the IKN's transfer, and simultaneously, as a call to Indonesia's policymakers and leaders to build or develop their new capital in a more balanced, more inclusive, and more sustainable fashion.

From the key takeaways and policy recommendations provided by the authors, there are a few central themes. First, as the overall level of practitioner and research knowledge on the IKN's relocation and development is still limited, this volume will hopefully inspire other researchers and organizations to conduct more detailed and focused studies on all aspects of the IKN's future development. This is particularly for areas related to the IKN's human and social capital, including the livelihoods and well-being of East Kalimantan's local and indigenous communities, the proposed physical and infrastructural development, existing and future environmental and ecological concerns and threats, and evolving social dynamics. Any future studies will need to be sensitive to the potential for unintended or unexpected consequences of IKN development, including widening socio-economic inequality and environmental degradation.

The editors hope that the present volume provides some direction for how the above themes and research questions might pan out, especially if certain recommendations are ignored or dismissed prior to the actual transfer of the national capital from Jakarta to Nusantara.

Generally, development initiatives need three frameworks for execution: a regulatory and policy framework, an institutional framework, and a system to trace and enforce accountability. While Indonesia's IKN Law is a start, the regulatory and policy framework and the actual implementation of the transfer still need regulations to operationalize the move at the ground level. Likewise, while the establishment of the IKN Authority marked the development of the IKN's institutional framework, this Authority is not fully operational yet and its accountability mechanism is not developed.