CHANDIGARH URBAN PLANNING

HISTORY
On August 15, 1947, on the eve of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, came a directive which would
transform the subcontinent for the next six decades. In order to safeguard the country’s Muslim population from the
Hindu majority, the departing colonial leaders set aside the north western and eastern portions of the territory for their
use. Many of the approximately 100 million Muslims living scattered throughout India were given little more than 73
days to relocate to these territories, the modern-day nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. As the borders for the new
countries were drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe (an Englishman whose ignorance of Indian history and culture was
perceived, by the colonial government, as an assurance of his impartiality), the state of Punjab was bisected between
India and Pakistan, the latter of which retained ownership of the state capital of Lahore. It was in the wake of this loss
that Punjab would found a new state capital: one which would not only serve the logistical requirements of the state,
but make an unequivocal statement to the entire world that a new India—modernized, prosperous, and independent—
had arrived
With the initial design team gone, the directors of the Chandigarh Capital
Project journeyed to Europe to search for a replacement. They were referred
to the French Architect Le Corbusier who agreed on the grounds that his
cousin, Pierre Jeanerette, be hired as the site architect. Maxwell Fry and
Jane Drew, the English couple and architectural team who had suggested Le
Corbusier for the project, also agreed to work on the housing for the
project; Le Corbusier would be in charge of further developing and
detailing the preliminary plan already laid out by Mayer and Nowicki.

CONCEPT
The inspiration for Le Corbusier’s master plan has been credited to a number of sources. Its emphasis on ample green
space between its roads and buildings drew not only from the Garden City principles requested by the local
government but from the architect’s own concept of the Ville Radieuse – albeit with the towering glass skyscrapers
replaced by sculptures reflecting Chandigarh’s governmental purpose. Rather than razing one of the cities in his native
Europe to craft his perfectly ordered urban paradise, Le Corbusier had the opportunity to utilize those same principles
on the untouched Punjabi countryside.

IDEA OF LE CORBUSIER
THE CITY OF CHANDIGARH IS PALNNED TO
HUMAN SCALE.
HEAD – capitol (place of power)
HEART – the city centre
STOMACH – the commercial area
ARMS – university and industrial zone
LUNGS - leisure valley, open spaces
ARTERIES – network of roads.

ROADS
The roads of the city were classified into 7 categories, known as SYSTEM OF 7V’s.

 V-1 FAST ROADS CONNECTING CHANDIGARH TO OTHER TOWNS

 V-2 ARTERIAL ROADS
 V-3 FAST VEHICULAR ROADS
 V-4 FREE FLOWING SHOPPING STREETS
 V-5 SECTOR CIRCULATION ROADS
 V-6 ACCESS ROAD TO HOUSES
 V-7 FOOTH PATHS AND CYCLE TRACKS.

DEVELOPMENT OF CHANDIGARH
The city of Chandigarh was developed in 3 phases:

 SECTOR 1 TO 30 – developed in phase 1, it was completely developed in 1975

 SECTOR 31 TO 47 – developed in phase 2, for accommodating population of 5 lakhs in combined.
 SECTOR 48 TO 56 - developed in phase 3.

HOUSING
The residential buildings were governed by a mechanism known as FRAME
CONTROL created by the municipal administration to control their facades.
This fixed the building line and the height and the use of materials. certain
standard sizes of doors and windows are specified and all the gates and
boundary walls must conform to standard design. The idea was to ensure that
the view from the street, which belong to the community was of same visual order and discipline to maintain
uniformity.

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
All buildings located in city centre and commercial or institutional buildings
located along v-2 roads were subjected to controls. The system of the city
centre was based on grid of columns. Fixed .26 m shuttering pattern on
concrete and a system of glazing or screen walls behind the line of columns.
the interior planning was left to the owners and in the exterior, certain
variations are permitted to give variety to the architectural composition.

VAISHNAVI N
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