Jawaharlal Nehru decided to build a new city, Chandigarh, as the capital of Punjab after it was divided following independence from Britain and Lahore went to Pakistan. American planner Albert Mayer developed the initial master plan, but it was later handed over to Le Corbusier in 1951. Le Corbusier's plan divided the city into sectors of equal size, with each sector acting as a self-sufficient neighborhood. The city was built on a grid road network following Le Corbusier's principles of modern architecture and urban planning.