Paper short abstract:

The development of Indonesia’s new capital city reveals new uncertainty to local people whose land are needed to this project by resulting “blocked future”. This leads to situation characterized by being trapped in temporality when the capacity to anticipate the future is severely limited.

Paper long abstract:

This research focuses on the development of Indonesia’s new capital city, which brings uncertainty to the people affected by the various infrastructure projects. Assemblage or networks of infrastructures, like roads, clean water pipelines, and river normalization, are still being worked on to support this new city. Like many national strategic projects, building infrastructure will result in the need for land allocation. Through the land release practice we might understand how this technical pattern interacts with socio-cultural complexity. I argue that this process brings new uncertainty to local people whose land is needed for this project, resulting in a “blocked future.” A situation that characterized by being trapped in temporality when the capacity to anticipate the future is severely limited.

At the early stage of infrastructure development, technical and bureaucratic mechanisms interact with people’s aspirations, imagination, and anticipation about the future. This situation can be seen from how vague timelines, inadequate information, and different land valuations follow the land release or acquisition process. For instance, different land valuations occur through different temporality. When villagers envision the future of how they live after receiving (or waiting for) land compensation, on the other side, the land release apparatus values land based on past and present conditions. It leads to people facing difficulties finding new land or building a house while the land price is skyrocketing. Precariousness or precarious living could be created in this process when people have limitations to anticipate the uncertain future.