During Sukarno's presidency, Jakarta was established and developed as the capital of the new republic. In 1957, Sukarno laid the foundation and street grid layout of Palangkaraya as a new planned capital of Central Kalimantan province. Sukarno however, foresaw the new city as the possible new national capital in the future. The vast available area and its geographic location in the centre of the archipelago was the city's main advantage. Nevertheless, Sukarno seemed to favour Jakarta instead. In the late 1950s to the first half of the 1960s, he filled Jakarta with monuments and statues. Numbers of monumental projects were conceived, planned, and initiated during his administration, including Monumen Nasional, Istiqlal mosque, DPR/MPR Building, and Gelora Bung Karno stadium. Sukarno also filled Jakarta with nationalistic monuments and statues, including Selamat Datang Monument, Dirgantara Monument at Pancoran, and the West Irian Liberation Monument at Lapangan Banteng. Although many of the projects were completed later, Sukarno is credited for shaping Jakarta's monuments and landmarks. He desired Jakarta to be the beacon of a powerful new nation.