Large scale infrastructure, of which ports and related industrial complexes are a major part, can help to unlock the economic, social and ecological potential of delta regions. Large scale infrastructure planning traditionally follows a “building in nature” approach, focussing on impact minimization, mitigation and compensation. “Building with Nature” constitutes a radical shift from “building in nature”, by focussing on opportunities for ecosystem services development and the utilization of natural processes in realizing (part of) the functionality of the design. This paper investigates the potential of the Building with Nature approach for the development of sustainable ports by comparing an ‘in’ and ‘with’ nature master plan for the Kuala Tanjung port-industrial complex