Chandigarh () is a city, district and union territory in India that serves as the joint capital of the two neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh is bordered by the state, the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which also includes the adjacent satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali. It is located 260 km (162 miles) north of New Delhi, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Shimla and 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar. Chandigarh is one of the earliest planned cities in post-independence India and is internationally known for its architecture and urban design. The master plan of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, which built upon earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city were designed by a team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Chandigarh's Capitol Complex—as part of a global ensemble of Corbusier's buildings—was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the 40th session of the World Heritage Conference in July 2016.Chandigarh has grown greatly since its initial construction, and has also driven the development of two satellite cities in its neighbouring states. The metropolitan area of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula collectively forms a "tri-city", with a combined population of over 1,611,770. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. The union territory has one of the highest Human Development Index among Indian states and territories. In 2015, a survey by LG Electronics ranked it as the happiest city in India on the happiness index. In 2015, an article published by BBC named Chandigarh one of the few master-planned cities in the world to have succeeded in terms of combining monumental architecture, cultural growth, and modernisation.

Gurgaon (pronunciation: [ɡʊɽɡãːw]), officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: [ɡʊɾʊɡɾaːm]), is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the national capital New Delhi and 268 km (167 mi) south of Chandigarh, the state capital. It is one of the major satellite cities of Delhi and is part of the National Capital Region of India. As of 2011, Gurgaon had a population of 1,153,000.Gurgaon is India's second largest information technology hub and third largest financial and banking hub. Gurgaon is also home to India's largest medical tourism industry. Despite being India's 56th largest city in terms of population, Gurgaon is the 8th largest city in the country in terms of total wealth. Gurgaon serves as the headquarters of many of India's largest companies, is home to thousands of startup companies and has local offices for more than 250 Fortune 500 companies. It accounts for almost 70% of the total annual economic investments in Haryana state, which has helped it become a leading hub for high-tech industry in northern India. Gurgaon is categorised as very high on the Human Development Index, with an HDI of 0.889 (2017).Gurgaon's economic growth started in the 1970s when Maruti Suzuki India Limited established a manufacturing plant and gathered pace after General Electric established its business outsourcing operations in the city in collaboration with real-estate firm DLF. New Gurgaon, Manesar and Sohna serve as adjoining manufacturing and upcoming real estate hubs for Gurgaon. Despite rapid economic and population growth, Gurgaon continues to battle socio-economic issues, such as high-income inequality and high air pollution. It also has a flood problem due to the limited drainage capacity.