UNDIP, Semarang (March 28) – The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DPWK) at Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) is collaborating with Mars Architects, the Asian Development Bank, the Van Eesteren-Fluck & Van Lohuizen Stichting, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on an initiative titled Evolutionary Planning for the Capital Habitat 2045 – EPOCH45 (https://epoch45.org).
This initiative aims to explore innovative strategies for the development of Indonesia’s new capital city, Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), by emphasizing the concept of an inclusive Forest City that integrates urban growth with ecological and social sustainability. Launched on August 17, 2024—coinciding with Indonesia’s 79th Independence Day—EPOCH45 encompasses a range of activities, including an IKN design competition, lecture series, discussions, and an exhibition showcasing the competition winners’ work.
The EPOCH45 design competition invited participants to explore evolutionary planning in building IKN as an independent and resilient Forest City for 2 million residents by 2045. Unlike typical urban design contests, EPOCH45 challenges participants to go beyond traditional city planning by considering broader ecological dimensions—inviting visions of cities that support nature, not merely adapting nature to urban needs.
With this approach, EPOCH45 is not merely a design competition—it represents a step toward the evolution of urban planning into a more sustainable and environmentally harmonious discipline. The competition attracted 49 teams from 48 universities across 16 countries.
Meanwhile, the lecture series was held online over 12 sessions from October 2024 to February 2025. It brought together international academics and practitioners to share insights on developing IKN as a Forest City. The series focused specifically on the theme “The Do’s and Don’ts of New Urban Planning,” offering valuable guidance to urban planners in designing a sustainable new capital.
“The lecture series presents a range of perspectives that underscore how developing IKN is a multidimensional challenge requiring cross-disciplinary solutions. With its comprehensive approach, the series aims to enrich the implementation of the Forest City concept in IKN,” said Neville Mars, one of the initiators of EPOCH45.
As a follow-up to the lecture series, EPOCH45 also organized a roundtable discussion that brought together experts from diverse backgrounds, both domestic and international—facilitated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani (UNDIP) and Neville Mars, Ph.D. (Mars Architects), discussed the practical implementation of the Forest City concept in IKN development. Topics included the integration of natural elements into urban environments to create inclusive, modern cities, with a focus on balancing formal and informal urbanization as well as the need for collaboration and innovative financing solutions.
Through this series of activities, EPOCH45 is expected to make a meaningful contribution to designing IKN as a sustainable, innovative, and inclusive Forest City. The initiative aligns with efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land), by promoting harmony between urban development and environmental preservation. (ed. NH)
