CHANDIGARH - THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

CHANDIGARH - THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

INTRODUCTIONChandigarh, also calledThe City Beautiful, is a city inIndiathat serves as thecapitalof twostates,PunjabandHaryana, and is aunion territoryof India. The name translates from Hindi to English as "the fort of Chandi",Chandibeing a Hindu Goddess. Known internationally for its architecture and urban planning, Chandigarh is home to numerous architectural projects ofLe Corbusier,Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki, and Albert Mayer. The city boasts a high standard of living with the highest per capita income in the country and tops the list ofIndian StatesandUnion Territorieswith aHuman Development Indexof 0.987.

GEOGRAPHYChandigarhis located near the foothills of theShivalikrange of theHimalayasin NorthwestIndia. It covers an area of approximately 44sq mior 114 km. and shares its borders with the states ofHaryanain the south andPunjabin the north. The exact cartographic co-ordinates ofChandigarhare30.74,76.79. It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 feet). The surrounding districts are ofMohali,PatialaandRoparinPunjabandPanchkulaandAmbalain Haryana. The boundary of the state ofHimachal Pradeshare not too far from its north.

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNINGLe Corbusier's plan of modern ChandigarhTaking over from Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier produced a plan for Chandigarh that conformed to the modern city planning principles ofCongres International dArchitecture ModerneCIAM.The initial plan had two phases: the first for a population of 150,000 and the second taking the total population to 500,000. Le Corbusier divided the city into units called "sectors", each representing a theoretically self-sufficient entity with space for living, working and leisure. The sectors were linked to each other by a road and path network developed along the line of the 7 Vs, or a hierarchy of seven types of circulation patterns. At the highest point in this network was the V1, the highways connecting the city to others, and at the lowest were the V7s, the streets leading to individual houses. Later a V8 was added: cycle and pedestrian paths.

The city plan is laid down in a grid pattern. The whole city has been divided into rectangular patterns, forming identical looking sectors, each sector measures 800 m x 1200 m. The sectors were to act as self-sufficient neighbourhoods, each with its own market, places of worship, schools and colleges - all within 10 minutes walking distance from within the sector. The original two phases of the plan delineated sectors from 1 to 47, with the exception of 13 (Number 13 is considered unlucky). The Assembly, the secretariat and the high court, all located in Sector - 1 are the three monumental buildings designed by Le Corbusier in which he showcased his architectural genius to the maximum. The city was to be surrounded by a 16 kilometer wide greenbelt that was to ensure that no development could take place in the immediate vicinity of the town, thus checking suburbs and urban sprawl; hence is famous for its greenness too. Chandigarh has two satellite cities:PanchkulaandMohali. Sometimes, the triangle of these three cities is collectively called the Chandigarh Tricity.

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DEMOGRAPHICSAs of 2001Indiacensus, Chandigarh had a population of 900,635, making for a density of about 7900 persons per square kilometre. Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. The sex ratio is 777 females for every 1,000 males which is the lowest in the country. Chandigarh has an average literacy rate of 81.9%, higher than the national average of 64.8%; with male literacy of 86.1% and female literacy of 76.5%. About 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. The main religions in Chandigarh areHinduism(78.6%),Sikhism(16.1%),Islam(3.9%), andChristianity(0.8%). HindiandPunjabiare the main languages spoken in Chandigarh, although these daysEnglishhas also gained some popularity. People speakingTamilform the third biggest linguistic group in Chandigarh. (Census of India 1991). A small number of people also speakUrdu. However, the most common language for informal communication, especially among the youth of the city isHindi.

ECONOMYThe government is a major employer in Chandigarh with three governments having their base here. A significant percentage of Chandigarhs population therefore consists of people who are either working for one of these governments or have retired from government service. For this reason, Chandigarh is often called a Pensioner's Paradise. There are about 15 medium to large industrial including two in the Public sector. In addition Chandigarh has over 2500 units are registered under small scale sector. The important industries are paper manufacturing, basic metals and alloys and machinery. Other industries are relating to food products, sanitary ware, auto parts, machine tools, pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances. Yet, with aPer Capita Income of Rs. 99,262, Chandigarh is the richest city in India.Chandigarh's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $2.2 billion in current prices.

Chandigarh IT Park (also Chandigarh Technology Park) is the city's attempt to break into theITworld. Chandigarh's infrastructure, proximity toDelhi,PunjabandHaryana, and the IT talent pool attracts IT businesses looking for office space in the area. Major Indian firms andmultinational corporations like Quark, Infosys,Dell,Webart Softechhave offices in the city and it's suburbs. According to a recent Global Services Survey conducted by Cyber Media, Chandigarh is ranked 9th in the top 50 cities identified globally as emerging outsourcing and IT services destinations.Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP), was conceived in 2001 by Chandigarh administration this was to promote and provide planned facilities to the IT companies and young entrepreneurs. Located in the foothills ofShivaliks, close toSukhna lake. The Department of Information Technology Chandigarh is this official department under Chandigarh administration dealing with IT policies and promotion of IT park.

EDUCATIONChandigarh is known for its quality school education. The schools are affiliated to different types ofschool curricula. The colleges in Chandigarh include many good colleges like GGDSD College(Sector 32), DAV College (Sector 10), Punjab University,etc. There are model schools set up by the government in various sectors, originally aimed to cater the needs of each sector. It is a major study hub for students all over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttaranchal, and also for the students from South-East Asia.

Some of the notable schools in Chandigarh are: Bhavan Vidyalaya Chandigarh, Sector 27 St. John's High School Chandigarh, Sector 26 St. Kabir Public School Chandigarh, Sector 26 St. Stephen's School Chandigarh, Sector 45 B Carmel Convent School, Sector 9 Sacred Heart School, Sector 26 AKS International Public School Chandigarh, Sector 41

TRANSPORTChandigarh has the largest number of vehicles per capita. Wide, well maintained roads and ample parking space all over the city, make it convenient to use private vehicles for local transport.Public buses run by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), an undertaking of the Chandigarh Administration, provide local transport as well as inter-state transport services.The Chandigarh Traffic Police oversees the implementation of the traffic rules, and is widely credited for a fairly orderly traffic system. The Traffic Park in Sector 23 introduces children, rickshaw-pullers and new drivers to traffic safety.Rickshawsare common for traveling short distances, especially by school-going children, housewives and the elderly. Auto-rickshaws are limited, and most often ply to and from the ISBT. Most heavy traffic roads now have rickshaw lanes, which the rickshaw-pullers must adhere to compulsorily.Chandigarh is well connected by road. The two main National Highways (NH) connecting Chandigarh with the rest of the country are: NH 22 (Ambala - Kalka - Shimla - Kinnaur) and NH 21 (Chandigarh - Leh).Chandigarh also has a domestic airport located nearly 12 kilometers from the ISBT. Its name isChandigarh Airport.Jet Airways,JetLite, Air India, andKingfisher Airlinesoperate regular flights from Chandigarh to New Delhi and Mumbai. In the near future, the city will also see a Metro Rail, andan international airport.

SPORTING VENUES Table Tennis Hall, Sector 23Punjab Cricket Association Stadium,MohaliChandigarh Cricket Stadium, (Sector- 16)Chandigarh Golf Club, Sector 6Panchkula Golf Club, Sector 3Hockey Stadium, Sector 42Carrom Stadium (Chandigarh Carrom Association), St. Stephens School, Sec - 45Roller Skating Rink, Sector 10Badminton Hall, Sector 7Swimming Pool Sector 23Shooting Range, Patiali RaoAthletic Club, Sector 7

GARDENSRose Garden, Sector 16Bougenvilla Garden, Sector 3Japanese Garden, Sector 16Topiary Garden, Sector 35Fragrance Garden, Sector 36Leisure Valley, Sector 10Terraced Garden, Sector 33Sukhna Lake Park, Sector 6Cactus Garden, PanchkulaRock Garden, Sector 1Rajendra Park, Sector 1Botanical Garden,khuda lahoraBamboo Valley, Sector 23

THE ROCK GARDEN Nek Chand Saini is anIndianself-taught artist, famous for building theRock Garden of Chandigarh, a forty-acre (160,000m) sculpture garden in the city ofChandigarh, India. In his spare time, Chand began collecting materials from demolition sites around the city. He recycled these materials into his own vision of the divine kingdom of Sukrani, choosing a gorge in a forest nearSukhna Lakefor his work. The gorge had been designated as a land conservancy, a forest buffer established in 1902 that nothing could be built on. The Rock Garden is still made out of recycled materials; and with the governments help, Chand was able to set up collection centers around the city for waste, especially rags and broken ceramics.

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