Chandigarh is an epitome of Urban Transformation Model and acts as one of the crucial case studies for the Urban Planners and Architects across the world. The city founded in the foothills of Shivalik range right after India gained independence is the first and still one of the best planned cities in the country.
Chandigarh is one of the first planned cities of India and also enjoys a unique geographical advantage of being located at the foothills of the Shivaliks. Also, the location gives an easy connectivity to the major states of North India, namely, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. It is indeed not hard to guess that Chandigarh is the hub of investments.
It is one of the greenest cities of India with 1,400 green belts, parks and gardens. According to the Chandigarh Administration, the high profile services provided by the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation are a role model for other urban cities.

Another unique feature of Chandigarh is the well connected and integrated road network, which are laid in accordance with their functions. According to the Chandigarh Administration, an integrated system of seven roads was designed to ensure efficient traffic circulation. Le Corbusier, the chief architect of the city referred to these as the 7-Vs. The city’s vertical roads run northeast/ southwest (The ‘Paths’) and the horizontal roads run northwest/ southeast (‘The Margs’). They intersect at right angles, forming a grid of network for movement. This arrangement of road-use leads to a remarkable hierarchy of movement, which also ensures that the residential areas segregated from the noise and pollution of traffic.

As of 2011 India census, Chandigarh had a population of 1,055,450, making for a density of about 9,252 (7,900 in 2001) persons per square kilometre. Although the original infrastructure of the city was planned for a population of five lakh, the city has expanded rapidly over the past few decades and faced challenges of the proliferation of slums, waste disposal and garbage, traffic congestion among others.
