THEORY OF URBAN DESIGN 2015-16

URBAN DESIGN – CASE STUDY OF

CHANDIGARH

Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation towards Ar. Ashish Srivastav and
Prof. Anil Kumar for their efforts. Completion of this report would not have been possible
without their guidance with such meticulousness.

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UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

The problem asks for recognition of the characteristics associated with Chandigarh and the
arrangement and design of components of the city which altogether form an ‘image’ of the
capital of Punjab and Haryana.

Image refers to the impression given by the city to its users – inhabitants and visitors. Each city
depicts the culture, tradition and lifestyle of the people occupying it. It tells the story of its birth
and development.

What are the distinct traits that have made Chandigarh what it is? What is held responsible for
the way people feel in the city? How does this machine; in form of the city; function, operate
and succeed for its citizens?

ANSWERING THE PROBLEM

A city’s image refers to the character it portrays. It is the mental image formed in the mind of
the user. It is the human’s perception of a city. The image of the city refers to the perception
one has of a city. The person may be living in the city or may be just passing by, but every
individual holds an image of a city in his head. The image may be a reflection of a place,
landscape, building or any other feature of the city. This image depends upon one’s own
perception and vision. A group of people together visiting same places may have different views
about the image of the city. The image is the result of a two-way process between observers
and observed, in which the external physical shape upon which a designer can operate plays a
major role.

Image of a city plays a vital role in creating an identity for the city through its discrete elements.
Its distinctiveness can be visualized through its image only. It is what makes the citizen call it
‘my place. All forms of development of a city be it the socio economic, the architectural, the
institutional, the residential, etc. of a city are what make the image of a city and are also the
ones on which the image of a city can depend. The role played by the image of the city is
beyond scope as it is almost everything a city holds. Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH

Image of a city is created by a person’s encounters with the area. It is created by the following
elements. Once a city has developed an image, it is important to retain it, maintain it and also
enhance it. If a city’s image is not retained then the city will lose its importance and hence its
existence will disappear. A city’s image can be retained in many ways, one of which is to
maintain the existing image of the city. A city must not lose its original image even in transition
to a new phase. Phases come and go but the original image of the city is what lasts. For
example, the image of the city Haridwar is a religious holy city, it cannot be replaced by an
industrial or an institutional city. There may be various developments in the city but its true

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image is the first image of the city i.e. historical images of the city must also be maintained in
course of development of a city. A city must not lose its identity in course of development.

Paths: Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially
moves. They may be streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, and railroads. For many people,
these are the predominant elements in their image. People observe the city while moving
through it, and along these paths the other environmental elements are arranged and related.

In Chandigarh, the 7V Circulation System has served the city well for decades. But the same is
now under extreme pressure, both internal and external, which has begun to affect its
efficiency. Paths have been explained under a title ‘streets’ in the report below.

The road network of Chandigarh has been divided into seven Vs.

 V1 is the road that connects Chandigarh to other major surrounding cities. These are
highway roads, which do not enter the cities. Once these roads enter the city of
Chandigarh they are referred to as V2. The Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg are two
roads which merges into v1 leading to different cities. The character of V1 is that it has
huge buffer green belts on both its side and no pedestrian movement to allow the fast
flow of traffic and simultaneously segregating it from the city.

Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH

 V2 are national roads which are large collector and conductor of fast vehicles. There are
three major V2s in Chandigarh. V2 are the major avenues of the city e.g. Madhya Marg,
Jan Marg and Dakshin Marg. Madhya Marg starts from the timber market till sector -9.

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The character of the road remains the same throughout the city with a slight aberration
after the CBD. The things worth noticing on this Marg are the changing façade and
character of the traffic corridor. Jan Marg starts from sector - 3 & 4 till sector - 43 & 42.
The main character of the road is that it has flowing greens of the leisure valley on one
hand and 6-story angular building (placement) on the other hand. The main idea was
the center of interest of the Marg was the focus of Shivalik hills and capitol complex on
side and the Matka chowk on the other hand.

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 V3s are the roads that divide the sectors. These are used for fast vehicles. There are no
sidewalks therefore no pedestrians and no paths of direct access. These roads run round
the sectors in a grid format dividing Chandigarh into various sectors. The main character
of these roads is that the rear part of the housing block is facing the road. Moreover, the
road has a single lane of eucalyptus trees following the low heighted backside wall of
the housing. After which it has a double lane traffic road and a narrow verge of small
shrubs and the mirror image is on the other side of the verge.

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 V4s are the roads for slow traffic. These are the roads that let one enter into a sector.
These roads provide access to the daily life needs of the user i.e. shopping, medical
services, grocery, etc. These are the roads moving from east to west bisecting the
sector. These have a slow traffic movement and act as shopping streets of the city. The
character of these roads is having shopping area on one hand, which includes both
SCO’s and SCF’s, and residential area on the other hand. The major advantage is that the
customers are always moving along the north side and are always under shade.

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 V5s originate from the V4s and lead towards the houses. V5s connect the houses to the
surroundings. V5 are the main loop roads within the sector. These roads have double
story residential blocks on one side and recreation block on other side. This road has a
slow traffic movement. These have a trees and pedestrian verge on both side of the
road divides by a narrow verge with street lights. The character of these roads is to
provide a sense of enclosure and security to the residents.
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 V6s are the roads that reach the doorstep of the house. These are the interior roads of
the house. They are the ones that connect the houses. They originate from the V5s.

 V7s are the roads that left for non-vehicular movement. These are the roads that feed
to the green zones. These are excellent pedestrian roads. They connect to schools,
playgrounds, etc. V7s can also be cycle roads in many zones of the city. V7’s are the
predestrain paths usually blocked by walk-through gates and turnstiles to every other
form of traffic. These serve as service lanes to the residents.

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Edges: Edges are the linear elements not used or considered as paths by the observer. They are
the boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in continuity: shores, railroad cuts, and
edges of development walls. They are lateral references rather than coordinate axes. Such
edges may be barriers, more or less penetrable, which close one region from another; or they
may be seams, lines along which two regions are related or joined together. These edge
elements, although probably not as dominant as paths, are for many people important
organizing features, particularly in the role of holding together generalized areas, as in the
outline of a city by a water feature.

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In Chandigarh the periphery is very important in terms of providing an environment to the city.
The edge of the city acts as a barrier and a seam both at a single time. When Chandigarh was
planned there is a govt. act, which is passed i.e.. “The Periphery Control Act of 1952 created a
wide green belt around the entire union territory. It regulated all development within 16
kilometers of the city limit, prohibited the establishment of any other town or village and
forbade commercial or industrial development. The idea was to guarantee that Chandigarh
would always be surrounded by countryside.” This periphery control acts as a tangible barrier
for the city and for the user it seems to be another green area outside the house but if we
repeat the same or say mirror the city along the periphery it will no more be the barrier to the
city. At the district level the edge of each district or we say “sector” is purely defining a barrier
“v3” the green belt between the v3 and the service road help creating a barrier to the districts.

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Nodes: Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter, and
which are the intensive foci to and from which he is traveling. They may be primary junctions,
places of a break in transportation, a crossing or convergence of paths, moments of shift from
one structure to another. Or the nodes may be simply concentrations, which gain their
importance from being the condensation of some use or physical character, as a street corner
hangout or an enclosed square.

In Chandigarh, Le Corbusier liked to compare the city he planned to a biological entity: the head
was the Capitol, the City Centre was the heart and work area of the institutional area and the
university was limbs.

The city center (Sector 17) is the heart of Chandigarh's activities. It comprises the Inter-State
Bus Terminus, Parade Ground, District Courts, etc. on one hand, and vast business and
shopping center on the other. The 4-story concrete buildings house banks and offices above
and showrooms/shops at the ground level with wide pedestrian concourses. The Neelam piazza

Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH

in the center has fountains with light and water features. Proposal to set up an eleven story
building in Sector 17 is in the offing.

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Districts: Districts are the medium-to-large sections of the city conceived as having two-
dimensional extents, which the observer mentally enters “inside of” and which are recognizable
as having some common identifying character. Always identifiable from the inside, they are also
used for exterior reference invisible from the outside. Most people structure their city to some
extent in this way, with individual differences as to whether paths or districts are the dominant
elements. It seems to depend not only upon the individual, but also upon the given city.

In Chandigarh, the primary module of the city’s planning scheme is a Sector with dimensions
1200 meters by 800 meters. It is a self-sufficient unit having shops, school, health centers and
places of recreations and worship. Every sector is introvert in character and permits only 4
vehicular entries into its interior. This size was arrived upon after a thoughtful calculation over
the idea that from any corner of the sector, it should not take more than 10 minutes for a
person to reach the areas catering to everyday needs. A number, the capital complex being
number 1, with the remaining sectors numbered consecutively beginning at the north corner of
the city, designates each sector. At present there are 30 sectors in Chandigarh phase 1, of
which 24 are residential.

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Sec 15

Sec 22

It was the first sector which was built, (C-sector shape). Behind this sector there is public
housing (govt. housing) & beyond this there is a bus stop of sector -11.

Sec 17

It is known as a city center, the heart of chandigarh’s activities. It comprises the Inter-State Bus Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH
Terminus, Parade Ground, District Courts, etc. on one hand, and shopping center on the other.
The roads were designed and oriented in such a way that most of the time during the day, they
are under shadow. There are huge parking areas for the commercial zones.

The 4-storey concrete buildings having banks and offices above and showrooms/shops at the
ground level with wide pedestrian concourses. This was the first place for shopping, for eating,
for interaction or for some kind of plays. Huge open space is provided at the center, columns
are used, C-shaped designed with a center landscape (grid pattern). It has different facades.

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Sec 42

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There is difference between phase 1 & 2 i.e. frame house, which were cubes in the beginning.
Front controlled houses. Middle floor were loosing terrace space. Mostly the use of jali work on
the terrace can be seen. Jalis are used for ventilation purposes. In phase 3 there are govt.
housings which was a total change as it extended till 4th storey, making apartment block. Phase
3 i.e. sector - 40 & beyond got into society housing. Use of exposed brick work & concrete
facades in apartment blocks which are against the chandigarh spirit, is visible.

Landmarks: Landmarks are another type of point reference, but in this case the observer does
not enter within them, they are external. They are usually a rather simple defined physical
object: building, sign, store, or mountain. Landmarks become more easily identifiable, more
likely to be chosen as significant if they have clear form, if they contrast with their background,

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and if there is some prominence of spatial location. The activity associated with an element also
makes it a landmark. Some landmarks are distant ones, typically seen from many angles and
distances. Such are isolated towers, golden domes, and great hills.

Landmarks play a vital role in the planning of a city. Chandigarh has been planned to have
various landmarks that make it easy for one to locate places. In Chandigarh many junctions can
also be considered as a landmark. Major landmarks in Chandigarh include the matka chowk on
the Jan Marg, Karan cinemas in sector 22 market area, etc. the matka chowk has its own
identity. It leads to the capitol complex. It gives a somewhat feel like the Lutyens Delhi road
between the India gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan. The road is flanked on one side by the leisure
valley while there are buildings on the other side. Kiran cinemas is a very old cinema in the
market of sector 22. There is a fencing around it that segregates the traffic of the market and
the cinemas.

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ABOUT CHANDIGARH

Soon after the partition, the need of a new capital for the state of Punjab was felt. About 70
sq.km. of land between the rivulets PatialaChoe and SukhnaChoe were acquired as per a master
plan developed by le Corbusier which had a number of control mechanisms such as
architectural control, frame control, advertisement control and zoning to regulate
development.

The first and thus best-planned city in the whole country. Its breath taking architectural style
makes it a most renowned place in the whole world and a major tourist attraction. No other
city in the country can compare to the standard of living of the inhabitants of Chandigarh. It is
considered as the most important city in the whole country and it is one of the union territories
of India. It also represents the capital of two states that is Punjab and Haryana. Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru was a most esteemed person and he used to dream of there being such a splendid city in
India. Then, Le Corbusier came along and made the dream come true. The city of Chandigarh is
a huge one: its area covers more than 110 km2. It is made of 46 sectors. However, the city
sectors range from 1 to 47: since number 13 was considered as a very inauspicious one, the city
does not have a sector number 13.it is one of the greatest experiments in urban planning of the
20th century, is today as much famous for its landscaping, as it is for its architecture. An
important feature of its planning was the recognition accorded to landscaping as an integral
component of its master plan from the very inception. Today, Chandigarh presents a visual
delight of a harmonious blend of buildings, trees and other landscape elements embellishing
the skyline.

City of Chandigarh was designed as a grid system, with government building at one end,
symbolizing the head of the organism. City blocks are arranged in sectors and assigned
numbers. In the core of this is the residential area, is the commercial center, the heart of the
city (sector-17). Le Corbusier planned the city while visualizing it as a biological entity where he
compared:

 Capitol Complex to the head Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH

 City Centre to the heart
 Leisure Valley, innumerable open spaces and sector greens to the lungs
 Network of roads and 7 Vs to the circulatory system
 Work area or institutional area to the arms

A city or a good urban model is the one which poses a visual impact through its infrastructure
and its character which distinguish a city from another city and becomes the identity of city and
frames the image of the city. The City draws a character featuring a city development and
design in an organized and controlled manner. Designed focused on to planning and organizing

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city – building by building, landscape by landscape and the amalgamation of both. Zoning of the
city has been done on the basis of Le Corbusier’s concept of building typologies, which are:

 Living
 Working
 Care of body, mind and spirit
 Circulation

Besides the above-mentioned elements of a city’s image, there are elements of urban design Report: Urban Study of CHANDIGARH
involved too. The following explain how they have contributed in forming the image of the city.

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Buildings: Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design - they shape and
articulate space by forming the street walls of the city. Well-designed buildings and groups of
buildings work together to create a sense of place.

 Most of the buildings are in pure, cubical form, geometrically subdivided with ernphasis
on proportion, scale and detail.
 Harmony has been ensured by exercising of architectural controls, frame controls,
zoning controls and strict development controls.
 Mostly built in brick, stone and shutter finish concrete, which is not only available in
abundance locally but also translates into provocative aesthetic forms.
 Uniformity in skyline, heights and architectural character can be observed.
 Large tall trees that are not overpowered by the built, provide an overall landscaped
look to the city.
 Truthfulness of material is the concept visible anywhere and everywhere.
 Climate responsive architecture is noteworthy.
 The Capitol Complex is the focal point if the city, both visually and symbolically whose
architecture is considered to be the most representative of Le Corbusier’s work.

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Public spaces: Great public spaces are the living room of the city - the place where people come
together to enjoy the city and each other. Public spaces make high quality life in the city
possible - they form the stage and backdrop to the drama of life. Public spaces range from
grand central plazas and squares, to small, local neighborhood parks.

 Large open spaces between two built masses leads to big enough expanses left to
appreciate the architecture and beauty of structures.
 This makes the place feel natural.
 Hierarchy of open spaces is observed in the layout ranging from city level to private
green areas.
 In Leisure Valley, the fitness trails and the other gardens along the green belt, which
passes through the city, offer quiet a retreat at all hours of the day.
 At sector level, the open space constitutes the central green in each sector whereas
open space at community level consists of parks around which clusters of houses are
arranged.
 Smallest category of open space is the courtyards provided in each dwelling on the front
and rear side.

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Streets: Streets are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces
themselves. Their physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character of
the buildings that line them define them. Streets range from grand avenues to small, intimate
pedestrian streets. The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what
makes each city unique. The circulation in Chandigarh (7 Vs) has been resolved as below:

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 V-1 Roads connecting Chandigarh with other cities like Ambala, Kharar and Shimla. They
have dual carnage way, good tree plantation and distinctive central verge lighting. The
Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg are two roads which merge into V-1s leading to Kalka
and Ambala, respectively.
 V-2 They are the major avenues of Chandigarh, with important institutional and
commercial functions running alongside. In Chandigarh they are identifiable as 'Marg’s'.
Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg, Jan Marg, Himalaya Marg, Uttar Marg and Purv Marg are
important examples.

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 V-3 They are the condor-streets for fast moving vehicular traffic. A Sector is surrounded
either by V-2or V-3 roads.
 V4 Roads bisecting the Sectors with shopping complexes located along their southern
edge
 V-5 Roads meandering through the Sector giving access to its inner lands.
 V-6 Roads coming off of the V-5s and leading to the residential houses.
 V-7 They are intended for pedestrian movement and run through the middle of the
sectors in the green areas. A few examples are along the Jan Marg, in the Punjab
University & Sector 15. Most of the time during the day roads are under shadow.

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 Huge parking areas for commercial zones prevent havoc on main roads by avoiding
parking problems.
 Detailed planning of the road network/road sections of each category of road was done
in great detail by the original team including road carriageways, pedestrian and cycle
tracks, tree plantation, and street lighting.

Landscape: The landscape is the green part of the city that weaves throughout - in the form of
urban parks, street trees, plants, flowers, and water in many forms. The landscape helps define
the character and beauty of a city and creates soft, contrasting spaces and elements. Green
spaces in cities range from grand parks to small intimate pocket parks.

 Landscaping proceeded side by side with the construction of the city from the very

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inception.
 Three spaces were identified for special plantation: the roadsides, spaces around
important buildings, parks and special features such as Sukhna Lake.
 The Leisure Valley is a green sprawling space extending northeast to southwest along a
seasonal riverlet gradient, which was conceived by Corb as lungs of the city.
 Le Corbusier’s contribution to landscaping was of categorizing tree forms. He made a
simple analysis of the functional needs and aesthetic suitability for the various areas,
devoting special attention to specific roads.
 Interior belts with their continuous flow combine with the outer green bets to give a
verdant feeling to the whole city. Narrow greenways connect major parks.

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 These trees, noted for their vast, are thick spreading canopies forming great vaulting
shelters over many of the city’s roads. In all, more than 100 different tree species have
been planted in Chandigarh.

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Transport system: Transport systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and
enable movement throughout the city. They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian
networks, and together form the total movement system of a city. The balance of these various
transport systems is what helps define the quality and character of cities, and makes them
either friendly or hostile to pedestrians. The best cities are the ones that elevate the
experience of the pedestrian while minimizing the dominance of the private automobile.

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 The 7 Vs establish a hierarchy of traffic circulation ranging from: arterial roads (V1),
major boulevards (V2) sector definers (V3), shopping streets (V4), neighborhood streets
(V5), access lanes (V6) and pedestrian paths and cycle tracks (V7s and V8s). This almost
completely separates vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
 Pedestrian walkway roads are segregated from the main road through a wide lawn strip.
 Bicycle traffic moves in a separate lane from three-wheeler and four-wheeler traffic.
 The entrance of cars into the sectors, which are exclusively reserved to family life, can
take place on four points only, in the middle of the 1200 m and 800 m roads.
 The bus stops are provided each time at 200 meters from the circus so as to serve the
four pedestrian entrances into a sector.

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Bibliography

 Google images
 Notes and lectures
 Observations
 Mapsofindia.com

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