The river navigating urbanisation: From forest extraction to the new capital city development in East Kalimantan

This article analyses the historical trajectory of landscape transformation in Sepaku Subdistrict, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in order to clarify the extensive impacts of Indonesia’s capital relocation project, officially framed as a 'forest city'. To do this, we specifically focus on the relationship between the river and urbanisation. Theoretically, we draw on the political ecology of urbanisation, which generally focuses on uneven spatial development, and we focus empirically on the historical transformation of the river. Based on seven months of fieldwork (2022-2023), including semi-structured interviews, document analyses, and participant observation, we detail how two moments of state intervention have shaped the relationship between the river and urbanisation. The first moment involves the territorialisation of Sepaku as a productive forest area in the 1960s, transforming natural forests into industrial forests and resettlement zones through extensive transmigrant flows. The planned urbanisation marks the second moment, aimed at transforming Sepaku into a new, sustainable, and inclusive 'forest city'. We argue that the current condition of the river and the city has been iteratively shaped by two moments of socio-spatial and socio-natural transformation. In order to move away from these extractive legacies, further planning for the new capital city should consider this relationship and incorporate the river into its vision of sustainable and inclusive urbanisation.