Chandigarh City is one of the most significant urban planning experiments of the 20th century, and the only one of Le Corbusier's planning schemes to be fully realized. It was designed to be the capital of Punjab after its division, with Le Corbusier's master plan dividing the city into sectors focused around circulation, living, working, leisure, and governance. Key features include the Capitol Complex administrative center, City Centre commercial hub, and a network of roads classified by function. Landscaping and architectural aesthetics were an important part of Le Corbusier's vision for the planned city.

1. Chandigarh City.
• Chandigarh is one of the most significant urban planning experiments of the 20th century.
• It is the only one of the numerous urban planning schemes of Le Corbusier to have actually been
executed.
• It is also the site of some of his greatest architectural creations.
• It has become a symbol of planned urbanism.
• It is as famous for its landscaping as for its architectural ambience.
• Most of the buildings are in pure, cubical form, geometrically subdivided with emphasis on
proportion, scale and detail.
History.
• Since Punjab was divided into two parts, the capital was left in Pakistan therefore Punjab in
India required new Capital.
• Le Corbusier was approached by Punjab Government and the Prime Minister of India (Pandit
Nehru).
• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said “Let this be a new town, symbolic of freedom of India unfettered
by the traditions of the past…..an expression of the nation’s faith in the future”.
• The City is a product of Nehru’s vision:
1. A need for the capital.
2. Rehabilitating refugees.
3. A center for governance.
4. A rich cultural legacy like Lahore.
5. A vision of the future.

2. Site Selection.
The present site was selected in 1948 taking into account various attributes such as:
• Proximity to the national capital.
• Availability of sufficient water supply.
• Fertile of soil.
• Gradient of land for natural drainage.
• Beautiful site with the panorama of blue hills as backdrop.
• Moderate climate.
• The site was the sub mountainous area of the Ambala district about 150 miles north of New Delhi.
• The area was a flat, gentle sloping plain of agriculture land consisting of 59 villages.
Idea of Le Corbusier.
The City of Chandigarh is planned to human scale.
• Head – Capitol Complex (Administration) [Sector 1].
• Heart – The City Centre [Sector 17].
• Stomach – The Commercial Area.
• Arms – University and Industrial Zone.
• Lungs – Leisure valley and Open spaces.
• Arteries – Network of roads [7 Vs].

3. The Sector.
• The primary module of the city’s design is a sector, neighborhood unit of size 800m×1200m.
• Each sector is a self sufficient unit having shops, school, health centers and places of recreations and workship.
• The population of a sector varies between 3000 and 2000 depending upon the sizes of plots and the topography
of the area.
• Convenient walking distance for social services like schools and shopping centers.
• The basic planning of the city is a sector.
• To accommodate 3000 to 25000 persons.
• It has 30 sectors out of which 24 are residential.
• The sectors surrounded by high speed roads.
• Bus stops are at every 400m.
• The main principle of the sector is that never a door will open on the surrounding of fast vehicular road.
• The size of the sector is based on the concept of no pedestrian need to walk for more than 10 minutes.
Le Corbusier Planning Strategies.
• Planned with focus on urban design, architectural aesthetics, preservation of natural
environment, conservation of buildings and open spaces, hierarchical road network.
• Divided the human function into circulation, living, working, care body and spirit with strict
zoning.
• City planning was against the traditional Indian cities.
• Replaced the native Indian town plan into superblocks.

4. 1) The Capitol Complex.
• The area of the greatest symbolic significance in Chandigarh was the capitol complex,
which in its final form was based on the design of a great cross axis.
• It consists of :
1. Parliament.
2. Secretariat.
3. Governor’s palace.
4. High court.
5. Truncated pyramid.
6. Monument for the victims.
7. Open hand.
• The Parliament or Legislative Assembly was designed as a large box with the
entrance portico on one side, concrete piers on the other, and a repetitive pattern
on the façade.
• The Secretariat, 254 meters long and 42 meters high, houses the ministerial
chambers and all ministerial agencies.
• The exterior polychromy of high court is enlivened on the principal façade, not only
by the brise-soleli of the Courts of Justice but also the three pylons of the garden
trance portico, painted green, yellow and in red-orange.
• In the heart of the Capitol Complex stands the giant metallic sculpture of open hand
which conveys the social message of peace and unity that is “open to give and open
to receive”. It rotates like a weathercock, indicating the direction of wind.

5. 2) The City Centre.
• The City Centre (Sector 17) is the heart of Chandigarh’s activities.
• It is the main public congregation area of the city.
• It consists of a series of concrete blocks 4 levels, arranged over 4 pedestrian paths that converge in a square
or chowk where the most important civic and commercial buildings are.
• In the landscape treatment include pools and trees in summer months is essential.
• There are huge parking areas for the commercial zones so that the parking problems don’t create a havoc
on the main roads.
• It comprises of the :
1. Inter-state bus terminus.
2. Parade ground.
3. District courts.
4. Vast business and shopping centre.
3) Leisure Valley.
• A green sprawling space extending north-east to south-west along a seasonal river let
gradient and was conceived by Le Corbusier as the “lungs” of the city.
• This valley houses the series of fitness trails, amphitheater and spaces for open-air
exhibition.
• Rock garden designed by NekChand in 1957.
• A Hierarchy of green spaces can be observed ranging from Public greens at city level to
semi-private to private green areas.

6. 4) Network of Roads.
• The roads of a city are classified into seven categories, known as the system of 7 Vs, as below :
1. V-1 : Fast roads connecting Chandigarh to other towns.
2. V-2 : Arterial roads.
3. V-3 : Fast vehicular roads.
4. V-4 : Meandering shopping streets.
5. V-5 : Sector circulation roads.
6. V-6 : Access roads to houses.
7. V-7 : Footpaths and cycle tracks.
• Buses will ply only on V1, V2, V3 and V4 roads. A wall shall seal the V3 roads from the sectors.
• Roads intersected at right angles forming a grid.
• Residential areas segregated from the traffic.
Sakshi Gadakh.
4th Year B.Arch.