Chandigarh: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

Chandigarh appeared on the urban map in 1950s to function as the administrative capital of the Punjab state. The city has attracted worldwide attention mainly due to two reasons, firstly, the symbolic significance of the city for a state which was rendered without a seat of administration in the wake of India’s independence and Punjab’s partition, and which aimed to provide a home to the displaced persons from Pakistan. Secondly, the association of the renowned architect and planner Le Corbusier with the planning of the city. The present paper attempts to study Chandigarh from the historical perspectives and cover all aspects in the urban context. It intends to focus on the emergence and growth of Chandigarh in all its dimensions with time and understand the changing social contours of the city as it has developed today. The idea of Chandigarh was welcomed by those who were to make it and resisted by those who had to make way for it. It will focus on the villages that had given their all for the sake of its origin. The development of the city into three phases and the social composition of population will be discussed briefly.