[...]
A recent assessment by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) estimates that Jakarta’s land is sinking at an average rate of 3.5cm per year.
[...]
“Jakarta’s land is sinking,” said Mr Yus Budiyono, a senior researcher at BRIN. “The northern part is turning into a ‘bowl’ and a flood hot spot, vulnerable to overflowing rivers, torrential rains and encroaching seawater.”
[...]
While the existing seawall in Jakarta has helped limit seawater intrusion compared with unprotected coastal areas such as Demak in Central Java, Mr Yus said such structural measures fail to address the primary driver of land subsidence, which is excessive groundwater extraction.
[...]
Dr Bosman Batubara, a research fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS), agreed, adding that Jakarta’s land subsidence is also driven by rapid but uneven urban development. Communities that have benefited from decades of urban expansion tend to be less exposed to the impacts of subsidence, while coastal residents face disproportionately higher risks of flooding, land loss and threats to their livelihoods.