India, Oct. 11 -- Chandigarh was not meant to look like this. Designed as India's flagship experiment in modern urbanism, it promised open vistas, walkable markets and calibrated order. Yet, somewhere between Corbusier's grid and today's gridlock, the city has quietly turned into a parking lot. During the festive season, when markets light up and families throng the streets, the contrast is stark: twinkling lights reflect off parked cars and crowds squeeze through lanes narrowed by vehicles. Cars now dominate pavements, verges and plazas, distorting the ideals the city was built on.

From vision to vehicular saturation

Le Corbusier's plan assigned clear roles to pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, but it imagined a time when car ownershi...