In 2007, Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, a metropolis with 10 million residents, suffered from catastrophic flooding that resulted in 76 deaths and half a million flood victims. The northern part of the city is actually only seven metres above sea level and the phenomenon of subsidence (or sinking) affects the 35 kilometres of coastline in the north part of the city (where more than 4 million people live), which is rapidly sinking nearly 7.5 centimetres per year (in some areas the lowering of the coastline is 14 cm) and is frequently flooded.

To stop the advancing waters, the city, 40 percent of which is below sea level, created a masterplan that once implemented should protect Jakarta from further flooding. Without any attempts to contain the water the city would have been doomed, and in less than half a century the metropolis would be submerged under the sea.

The Great Garuda is the name of the project, it’s a new city for 300,000 new inhabitants spread out over 17 new islands, which, due to the shape that was chosen (a great eagle with outstretched wings) recalls the national symbol of Indonesia, the mythical bird that is important in both Buddhism and Hinduism, the Garuda.

The urban project, which also has the task of revitalizing the coastline and most importantly offering a vision of the future for the Indonesian capital, was designed by the architecture firm KuiperCompagnons of Rotterdam and came about thanks to a collaboration between Indonesia, the Netherlands (which provided assistance after the 2007 disaster) and a consortium of Dutch companies (Witteveen+Bosa and Grontmij), which formed National Capital Integrated Coastal Development and were all involved in the creation of the masterplan that started in 2008. The entire project is worth nearly $40 billion, it will be completed over the course of several decades (30 – 40 years) and will involve the construction of a sea wall that is 40 kilometres long, and over 24 metres tall. The masterplan calls for the expansion of the port, purification plants and water removal, the strengthening of embankments along rivers and canals, new waterways, a toll motorway, numerous access roads and a public transport service. The development of the masterplan has cost $10 million and is the result of seven years of study by the Indonesian-Dutch work group, which dug into subjects like subsidence, urban water management and the quality of water.

The plan as a whole, which is singular across the world due to its size and approach, is divided into three phases: the first focuses on reinforcing the current sea wall combined with water treatment projects and the revitalisation of the coast; the second concentrates on the construction of the Garuda-shaped sea wall in the west, combined with a new city for 300,000 residents and 600,000 workers; finally, the third is dedicated to the construction of an eastern sea wall combined with a port expansion project and a new airport. The project is not without negative environmental impacts and social consequences: one study by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia found that the project, once underway, could erode the islands in the western part of the bay of Jakarta, destroy the coral reef and lead to the stagnation of polluted water behind the sea wall. The possibility of this last point is rejected by the Dutch experts who, on the contrary, assure that because the city’s water will be treated, the rivers will dump clean water into the bay.