Chandigarh

Chandigarh is a city and a union territory of India that serves as the capital of the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. As a union territory, the city is governed directly by the Union Government and is not part of either state. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the north, west and south, and to the state of Haryana to the east. Chandigarh is considered to be a part of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which includes Chandigarh, and the city of Panchkula and cities of Kharar, Kurali, Mohali, Zirakpur. It is located 260 km north of New Delhi, 229 km south-east of Amritsar and just 116 km south-west of Shimla. Chandigarh was one of the early planned cities in post-independence India and is internationally known for its architecture and urban design. The master plan of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, which transformed from earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city were designed by the Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. In 2015, an article published by BBC named Chandigarh as one of the perfect cities of the world in terms of architecture, cultural growth and modernisation.