Sector 17 is the commercial heart that Le Corbusier designed as the pedestrianised centre of his grid — a four-block plaza of low concrete arcades, planters and fountains where the entire city used to come to shop, eat and meet. It still functions as such, although the malls in the outer sectors have stolen some of its trade.
The plaza is at its best on a Sunday evening: the fountains run, the lights come on along the arcades, and families gather around the bandstand. There are heritage shops selling Punjabi phulkari embroidery, government emporia with fixed prices for handicrafts, and a thicket of cafes and ice-cream parlours along the perimeter. The view across the central plaza is a slice of unaltered mid-century modernism that you won't find in many Indian cities.