Japan is discussing plans to create a second – along with Tokyo – capital city. This is due to the possibility of natural disasters and the consequences that they can bring. And due to the fact that Bangkok is sinking by a rate of twenty centimetres per year, Thailand is contemplating removing some capital city functions from that city. Is this possible? And what makes a capital city? Brian Doucet, lecturer in urban geography in the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University, explains.
“In short, a capital city can be defined as the city where the national government functions are situated. The classic capitals of Europe – Rome, Paris, London – are not only the most important political cities in their respective countries, but also the most important economic, cultural and industrial centres as well.
However, there are other capital cities that only have a political function. Washington DC, and the Ottawa, are examples of these types of capitals. Ottawa was chosen as the capital city of Canada because it bordered both the English and French speaking parts of the country and because it was far enough from the American border to prevent an easy attack; at the end of the Nineteenth Century, Canada and the US did not always have the same friendly relations that they do today.
The Netherlands is an exception to this rule, however. From 1588, the seat of government in our country has been The Hague, yet Amsterdam is explicitly named, also in the constitution, as the capital city. This situation – where the political centre of a country is not the capital city – is very unique in the world.”
Moving or adding a capital city. Can that happen?
“It would not be the first time that a capital city has been moved or that a country has more than one capital; South Africa currently has three capital cities: one for the executive branch, one for the legislature and a judicial capital.
If, for one reason or another, a city becomes under threat or lies in a geographically weak position, it can become difficult for it to continue to function as a national capital. A good example of this is Kazakhstan; in 1997, the capital moved from Almaty to Astana. While there were many reasons for this move, one of the most important was the fact that Almata is vulnerable to earthquakes while Astana is not. This move was therefore similar to the debates currently ongoing in Japan and Thailand.
Therefore with an outlook towards climate change, it is not surprising that capital cities (and other cities that lie in vulnerable positions) might have to move to other locations in the future as well.”