India, May 10 -- At some point, Chandigarh stopped flowing and started waiting. At red lights, roundabouts and turns that were never meant to take this long. A city designed for order now negotiates delays, one signal at a time.The irony is hard to miss. The grid that once promised efficiency is now testing patience. Vehicle numbers across the tricity have grown steadily, stretching a system never designed for this scale of movement. Planned under Le Corbusier as a model of clarity and control, Chandigarh still looks composed on paper. On the ground, that composure is beginning to fray.

When efficiency becomes friction

The elegance of a grid lies in its predictability. It distributes traffic, offers multiple routes, and avoids unplanned...