As the Indonesian government accelerates the construction of Nusantara (IKN) in the heart of East Kalimantan, the global discourse remains fixated on its $32 billion price tag and its “Forest City” branding. However, beneath the drone shots of rising steel structures lies a much older, more sophisticated foundation: the ancestral lands of the Banjar and Dayak peoples. For Nusantara to succeed, its ambition must transcend the limits of a technocratic island; it must evolve into a “culturally intelligent” metropolis that integrates the very indigenous wisdom it risks displacing.
The Banjar people have thrived for centuries in the riverine landscapes of Kalimantan. Their civilization is a masterclass in hydraulic adaptation, centered around the Lanting—traditional floating houses that rise and fall with the tides.
In an era where climate change makes traditional “hard” infrastructure vulnerable to flooding, the Banjar’s maritime spirit offers a blueprint for amphibious urbanism. Instead of fighting the water with concrete dikes, Nusantara’s planners should observe how the Banjar manage floating commerce and resilient housing. Integrating these traditional water-management systems represents a profound strategic necessity for a city built in a tropical wetland, ensuring resilience in a landscape defined by its rivers.
While international observers scrutinize Indonesia’s reforestation promises, the Dayak people have been practicing a sophisticated form of forest management for millennia. Their system of Huma (rotational farming) is often misunderstood as primitive agriculture. In reality, it is a highly regulated cycle of land fallowing that far surpasses modern monoculture methods in promoting biodiversity and preventing the peatland fires that have historically plagued the region.
The Dayak do not view the forest as a commodity, but as a “living pharmacy” and a spiritual relative. By incorporating Dayak forestry experts into the IKN’s environmental agency, the government can move away from superficial “green-washing” toward a truly resilient, biodiverse urban forest that aligns with global ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards.
The greatest threat to Nusantara’s success is not financial, but social. History has shown that top-down development projects that ignore local “Economic Moats” often lead to social friction. If the Banjar and Dayak are relegated to the sidelines, Nusantara will lose its “soul” before the first embassy opens.
True sustainability is not merely an environmental goal but a moral integration. This requires giving indigenous councils a formal seat in the [suspicious link removed] and ensuring that economic benefits flow directly into traditional communities, supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for reduced inequalities.
Nusantara has the potential to be more than just Indonesia’s new capital. It could be a global template for post-colonial urbanism—a city where the “smart” technology of the future is guided by the “wise” traditions of the past. The world is watching to see if Indonesia will build a city of glass and steel, or a city that breathes with the rhythm of the rainforest.
The answer lies in the hands of the Banjar and the Dayak.
*The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Diplomatic Insight.
