CITY CENTRE SECTOR 17 The main shopping and commercial centre of Chandigarh is Sector 17. This vast commercial complex is a pedestrian's paradise with four main piazzas meeting at a 'chowk'. It provides something for everyone, from hectic business activity to unhurried window shopping and even crowd gazing in the vicinity of the fountain. Air-conditioned showrooms and departmental stores cater to the needs of shoppers. Government Emporia, innumerable shops, eateries, coffee houses, bars and pubs keep the visitor fully engrossed.

The City Centre or Sector 17, as it is popularly called, is architecturally a blend of cuboids building blocks and open spaces. The piazza livens up in the afternoon with the office crowds out in the open spaces and shopping colonnades to refresh themselves. In the evenings, shoppers and tourists, enjoying ice creams or popcorns, sit on the steps of the "dove of peace" sculpture, where water cascades down from one level to another in geometrically shaped tanks, amidst delightful play of colourful lights.