Seventy-five years ago, India gifted the world a blueprint in urban architecture. A global team of architects and city planners led by Le Corbusier created Chandigarh, which was then improved upon by visionaries like MS Randhawa who gave the city its green pastures and cultural identity.
Seventy-five years later, has the ultra-efficient City Beautiful – designed around a grid system, self-contained sectors, and optimised traffic flow – been able to maintain its unique identity? We criss-crossed its changing lanes in a car built with a similar philosophy of efficiency: the Toyota Hyryder hybrid.
The seven ‘V’s of Chandigarh
The city can be easily covered in two days, provided you know where exactly to go. We began our 48-hour trip by testing how the Hyryder moved around the city’s famous ‘V’ roads. Called Les Sept Voies (the seven ‘V’s, or the seven paths of circulation), it’s a revolutionary urban planning concept developed by Le Corbusier.
V1: Wide roads connecting Chandigarh to other cities, built for fast-moving traffic.
V2: These are the Margs (Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg, Jan Marg), connecting the city’s major hotels, hospitals, commercial areas, and the Panjab University.
V3: Roads around each sector.
V4: Local shopping streets, bisecting each sector from east to west, and designed in a way that pedestrians always walk in the shade.
V5: Running north to south within a sector.
V6: Low-speed roads leading to houses.
V7: Only for pedestrians (no vehicles) – V8 roads, part of Le Corbusier’s design, are bicycle tracks.
The car and the city
On V1, V2, and V3, the Hyryder mostly ran on petrol, because at constant speeds there is little regen to power the battery. But on V4, V5, and V6, the car mostly ran on the electric mode, as constant braking kept on charging the battery, which, in turn, powered the motor running the wheels – a silent operation mirroring these low-decibel roads.
Celebrating the city
Chandigarh doesn’t have massive carbon-inefficient glass structures, and most buildings look similar – made of concrete and bricks. The best way to enjoy this architecture is a morning drive along Jan Marg, where you see hotels such as Shivalikview, Hyatt Centric, and Taj, and buildings such as RBI and MCC, all beautifully similar to each other. Driving around the city, the only eyesore is the glass façade of JW Marriott, located on Dakshin Marg in Sector 35.
From Jan Marg, you can drive into the heart of Sector 17, the iconic open-air commercial centre – car parking fees in Chandigarh start at just Rs 14 – and after a brief stroll, you can head to the Capitol Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Open Hand Monument.
No visit to Chandigarh can be complete without a trip to Nek Chand’s Rock Garden – a sprawling wonderland made from recycled urban waste, industrial debris, discarded ceramic bangles, and empty bitumen drums – covering which needs 2-3 hours. Post that, you can have a relaxed evening next to the cool Sukhna Lake.
On day two, you can discover the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden (Asia’s largest, in full bloom in February-March), Panjab University, Leisure Valley, or the extreme cleanliness of northern sectors (1 to 11).
What has changed?
Driving across the city reveals how 75 years have changed Chandigarh – both for better and worse. While the elite northern sectors remain quiet, the dense southern sectors are facing population pressure, parking problems, and visible trash. Kiran, the celebrated cinema hall, has shut down, and Neelam is barely hanging on.
But possibly the broader urban dynamic is changing for the better. A couple of decades ago, crowds from the surrounding cities of Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab used to flock Chandigarh, gridlocking the city, but today these satellite cities have become self-sustaining ecosystems – with their own luxury hotels, malls, markets, universities, colleges, and hospitals – and residents no longer need to commute regularly to Chandigarh. Consequently, the City Beautiful is gradually reclaiming its idyllic environment.
Every city has its problems, but 75 years later Chandigarh seems to have preserved its 20th century soul, and driving around its Les Sept Voies, it makes you wonder why, in three-fourths of a century, India hasn’t been able to replicate the City Beautiful.
