Chandigarh was originally designed to be a small city but trifurcation of the earlier larger state of Punjab put a lot of pressure on the infrastructure of this city. It meant that this city was supposed to grow at an amazingly faster pace than it was actually planned. It also served to prompt 2 disputing states for building the versions of city across its borders. Therefore, there the birth of Mohali and Panchkula was witnessed there. At present, all 3 come up as a single unit i.e. a single Chandigarh city.

Sector 17

Sector 17 is the major downtown area of the city. It has a large pedestrian plaza at the center along with huge water sculpture adorned as a centerpiece having a 4-storeyed block meant for shopping. One has to go to this area to buy anything i.e. from a toothbrush to an A.C. The place becomes more interesting when a local troupe visits there for performing at the central plaza and people present love to enjoy this evening full of cultural treat and that too free of cost.

The most significant thing done here is shopping and shopaholics love doing this. Every prominent international as well as any domestic brand can be witnessed on the boards and for enticing the taste buds of the visitors, there are an array of dining options for the shoppers.

Other Sectors

Since Sector 17 got filled up, the spillover has been shifted to the neighboring areas having Sector 22 and 35 along with Sectors 9, 8 and 26 on the two sides. These sectors also have commercial parts having its location along the Madhya Marg and Himalayan Marg and have been developed into downtowns filling them with a number of restaurants, hotels, airline offices as well as shopping centers encompassing the area across the miles. One can see movement of discotheques also here.

Mani Majra

The northern district was initially considered as a poor man's Chandigarh but this distant suburb climbed up the ladder all of a sudden after having an IT Park located in and around these areas. There is a fun republic found at Mani Majra which lies at the outskirts and make a foray of Chandigarh into the culture of malls. This large mall has become a preferred destination basically on weekends. This multistoried complex prides itself with a multiplex along with a food court and selective shopping options for the people. There are well known joints such as Ruby Tuesday as well as McDonalds found to be too popular among the locals.

Chandigarh, no longer remains a single city but at present it serves as big conglomerate which encloses Mohali and Panchkula having almost no discernible separation. So, Sector 5 of Panchkula forms the downtown of Chandigarh as Sector 17.

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