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Established in 1997, the City Museum boasts a place among the popular museums in Chandigarh. The City Museum in Chandigarh was established by the city administration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. The purpose of setting it up was to collect, preserve and display the planning and development that went into the unique urban designing of the modern, planned city. The museum houses original sketches, models, plans, photographs, and documents explaining the evolution of the city from the stage of rough paper sketches to its realization. Displays in the basement feature the story of India's partition and explain the need to build a new capital city of Chandigarh, as the old capital of Punjab crossed boundaries to Pakistan. Exhibits on the first floor of City Museum in Chandigarh focus on the growth aspect and is based on the theme of 'Chandigarh today and tomorrow.

In course of the partition of India, Lahore, the old capital of Punjab remained in Pakistan. So the need for a new capital arose, along with the need for a new city to resettle the vast number of refugees. Thus the Herculean task of building a new city was undertaken guided by the vision of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in whose words the city was to be 'symbolic of India's freedom'. Thus the journey of the city over the past five decades, while facing challenges in giving shape to the original concepts, is captured in the City Museum in Chandigarh. The concrete building of the museum was adapted from a structure designed by Le Corbusier.

The display concept and themes are in sync with the mood of the environment and exhibits. You enter the City Museum in Chandigarh through a small stairway to the basement where various panels unfold the controversies and stories of the traumatic partition of India. Gradually you progress to the original sketches, documents and drawings prepared by the first planners of the city. The studies made for developing an architectural style suited to the Indian context are displayed through exquisite sketches, visualizations of housing schemes, and incorporation of traditional elements in all neighborhood units. The ground floor features Corbusier's plans and visions. A lesser known feature of Chandigarh is its planned landscape. The City Museum in Chandigarh shows sketches for development of the Leisure Valley, Sukhna Lake, and tree plantation along roads, parks and civic areas.

A visit to the City Museum in Chandigarh is an enlightening experience; if you visit the city do not miss this opportunity.