India, Oct. 12 -- 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. Le Corbusier's plan assigned clear roles to pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, but it imagined a time when car ownership was rare. Chandigarh today has five times the vehicles its planners ever imagined. Sector 17's plazas, once meant for promenades and fairs, are crowded with cars. Neighbourhood parks and schoolyards are drafted into "temporary" parking zones. Even Diwali melas or Christmas markets struggle for space as areas meant for light and community are consumed by vehicles. This overrun is not accidental. Each compromise - a sidewalk yielded to an SUV, a verge turned into parking, a school wall lined with two-wheelers - has reshaped the city's fabric. Collective spaces are now battlegrounds between mobility and stasis. Cars in Chandigarh, as in much of India, are markers of aspiration. Multiple vehicles per household are common, and parking is treated less as civic duty, more as entitlement. Sidewalks blocked, shop fronts hidden, disputes frequent. During festivals, tensions multiply as competition for prime spots collides with cheer. Paid parking adds strain by issuing tickets without checking for space, leaving drivers circling in frustration. In Sector 22-B, traders note attendants "permit vehicles without verifying availability, resulting in disorder." In MC-run lots, staff demand fees even when slots are full- a practice shopkeepers call harassment. By contrast, private parking near jeweller shops in Sector 22 is better organised, proving order is possible but rare. Policy choices deepen the problem. Public transport remains skeletal. Multi-level structures, though inaugurated with fanfare, stay underused because on-street parking is cheaper. Enforcement is sporadic, triggered mostly by VIP visits. Meanwhile, the municipal corporation relies on parking fees, incentivising congestion. The result is a cycle: more cars mean more demand for parking, which creates more supply, encouraging still more cars. Each car claiming public space pushes out the walker, child at play, and joy of a fair uninterrupted by metal obstacles. The way forward is not mysterious. Cities worldwide are shifting from car dependence to people-centric urbanism. Paris is replacing lanes with cycling corridors. Barcelona's "superblocks" prioritise pedestrians. Pune has piloted car-free zones, and Indore's bus system has won recognition. For Chandigarh, three priorities stand out: Strengthen public transport: Frequent buses and rapid transit linking the tricity could make shared mobility competitive. Price parking realistically: Street parking should not be cheaper than multi-level lots. Differential fees would push vehicles into formal facilities while freeing sidewalks and plazas. Reclaim space for people: Pilot pedestrian-only zones in markets like Sector 17 or 22. Protect parks and verges with bollards. Promote cycling lanes along sector spines using Chandigarh's wide roads. These are not just technical fixes; they mark a shift in priorities. A city designed for cars will get congestion. A city designed for people will get community - a city where festival crowds can linger in plazas and open spaces can breathe. Chandigarh's scale and planned fabric make it capable of leading this change. Until that choice is made, the "City Beautiful" risks remaining beautiful only in name - its plazas obscured, its markets congested, and its people searching for space between parked cars, even during the brightest celebrations....