ABSTRACT
Planning the town had originally been entrusted to Albert Mayer of Mayer, Whittlesey and Glass of New York. Mayer had served as a Lieutenant Colonel in India during the Second World War, was acquainted with Nehru, and had some familiarity with India and its problems. While planning for traffic separation within and around the 'superblocks', Mayer experienced certain problems peculiar to the Indian situation, for the mixtures of traffic found on Indian roads is unknown in Europe and America. The problems experienced with having the planner based in New York when a local technical organization barely existed led to a change in the terms of agreement with the second team. Whereas Mayer had tried to give elements 'of splendour, of greatness, but not overwhelming greatness' for Corbusier, a city was 'the grip of man upon nature' and a 'mighty image which stirs our minds'.
