Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India

Chandigarh isn't a city that grew by accident - it was drawn on a drafting table. After Partition split Punjab in 1947 and Lahore was lost to Pakistan, India needed a new capital from scratch. Architect Le Corbusier got the job in 1951, and what he built became India's first fully planned city: a grid of sectors, each one a self-contained neighbourhood with its own markets, schools, and green belt, all knit together by wide, tree-lined roads. That planning legacy is still what sets Chandigarh apart. Sectors are numbered, not named, and each one is a tidy little world - Sector 17 as the commercial heart, Sector 1 housing the Capitol Complex with its High Court and Legislative Assembly, and dozens of residential sectors laid out with a consistency you won't find in most Indian cities. Add Sukhna Lake, the Rock Garden's sculpture-filled paths, and the shared status as capital of both Punjab and Haryana, and you get a city that's equal parts administrative hub, educational centre (home to Panjab University and PGIMER), and genuinely liveable urban space.