New planned cities often have this problem. But in long term I don't think it will stay a ghost city if the government moves there.

That being said they could have upgraded an existing city on Borneo instead of going through the pain of building a completely new one.

Me looking up the project: At least they figured out that they need a metro, given they plan the Nusantara Autonomous Rail Transit. Turns out it is a bus.

I didn't even know this was a thing before reading that article but I'm going to engage in some wild supposition.

I'm going to suppose that many of those in the outgoing presidents cabinet were heavily invested in companies involved in industries such as production of construction materials, transport of those materials, and of course construction.

I also predict that in the not so distant future they will find significant deficiencies in the buildings which have been constructed, such as defective materials, insufficient concrete density, insufficient foundations, and so on.

Like 50% of China cities?

ML comments without sources incoming