The Model Town Master Plan Competition 1922–23 (Episode 12)

The town planner and architect who prepared the Master Plan of Model Town Lahore received a professional fee of Rs 800.

In the previous episode, it was noted that the Model Town Society was allotted land from the reserved forest area of Rakh Kot Lakhpat in June 1922 through a formal financial and legal process. Once possession had been completed, the next stage involved the planning and preparation of the layout design.

The Society resolved that the plan should not be assigned to any single individual by direct appointment but should instead be chosen through an open competition among architects and town planners across British India. A comprehensive Urban Layout Design Competition was therefore organised to secure the most suitable Master Plan. For this purpose, advertisements were placed in Lahore’s leading English newspapers, the Civil and Military Gazette and The Tribune, in August 1922. The announcement invited architectural and planning firms from all over India to submit designs for the Model Town Master Plan, with a prize of Rs 1,200 offered for the winning entry.

The advertisement specified that the design was to be based on the principles of the Garden City Movement, aiming to create a settlement on the outskirts of Lahore that would be healthy, orderly, and harmoniously integrated with nature.

A total of thirty-two plans were received from various parts of India, each submitted under a pseudonym. These were displayed on 17 and 18 December 1922 at the Society’s office in the newly completed Sir Ganga Ram Trust Building on The Mall. During these two days, members of the Society and the public were invited to view the submissions. On 17 December, the Governor of Punjab, Sir Edward Maclagan, also visited the exhibition and expressed keen interest in the initiative.

Archival records confirm that the judging committee responsible for selecting the first Master Plan of Model Town Lahore (1922–23) comprised:

1. Sir Ganga Ram, Retired Chief Consulting Engineer, Government of Punjab

2. W. G. Louton, Consulting Architect, Public Works Department, Punjab

3. Barrister Diwan Khem Chand, Secretary, Model Town Co-operative Society

The competition was not merely an exercise to select a map for the Society; its wider purpose was to promote the application of modern town-planning principles such as zoning, the radial-road pattern, the central green core, and functional land use adapted to Lahore’s geography and climate.

Rather than selecting a single entry, the judges shortlisted four designs for their proportional harmony and aesthetic balance:

1. Dilnagar by Mr G. K. Trilokekar (Bombay)

2. Common Sense by Mr S. C. Paul (Calcutta)

3. Jupiter by Mr N. L. Verma (Allahabad)

4. Dalma by Dr J. B. Sahni (Lahore)

Recognising the merit of all four, the judges divided the prize money of Rs 1,200 equally among them.

Each design displayed a distinct strength. One offered a well-balanced radial road network; another demonstrated clarity in zoning and land use; a third maintained an ideal proportion of green belts and open spaces; while another effectively integrated the functional relationship between the club, market, and community centres. It was therefore resolved that the best functional, aesthetic, and engineering elements of all four designs should be incorporated into one comprehensive Master Plan.

The judges subsequently entrusted Mr N. L. Verma with the task of consolidating the finest features of the four shortlisted plans—such as traffic circulation, residential-block arrangement, placement of public amenities, and the interconnection of open green belts—into a single integrated design. For this assignment, the Society awarded him an additional Rs 500, in addition to his Rs 300 share of the prize.

Mr Verma successfully synthesised the core elements of all four plans into a coherent urban framework. The final Master Plan he produced not only satisfied ergonomic and technical standards but also established a precedent for Lahore’s future urban expansion. His plan received formal approval from the Government of Punjab in 1923.

When the judges entrusted Mr Verma with this responsibility, it was clear that his design, Jupiter, had been considered the most balanced and practicable among all submissions, including Dilnagar, Common Sense, and Dalma. Verma’s approach to traffic flow, residential zoning, allocation of civic amenities, and integration of open green spaces demonstrated an exceptional harmony of scientific precision and aesthetic sensitivity. Consequently, both historical and technical evidence affirm that Mr N. L. Verma was the true author and architect of the final Master Plan of Model Town Lahore, as the township’s existing layout, zoning, and structural organisation are fundamentally derived from his design.

Mr Nand Lal Verma of Allahabad was a professionally trained architect and town planner. His Master Plan fulfilled all the scientific and civic requirements of contemporary urban design and was subsequently recognised as the definitive plan of Model Town Lahore.

The plan covered approximately 1,960 acres, divided into ten blocks (A to J), comprising over one thousand residential plots, a central park, schools, clubs, hospitals, and places of worship including a mosque, temple, and gurdwara.

Following completion of the Master Plan in 1923, the Government of Punjab formally approved the scheme. This marked the first documented instance in Lahore of a collaboration between architectural design and scientific urban planning.

Some historians, however, draw a comparison with Krishan Nagar (Islam Pura), which by the early 1920s had already become a model residential settlement in Lahore. Its single-storey terrace houses, broad verandahs, and municipal arrangements for drainage and sanitation made it a successful example of organised housing. Its orderly layout was therefore often cited as a precedent during the planning of Model Town.

After completion of the Master Plan, the Society announced another competition in 1923 for residential-building designs, offering prizes of Rs 400, Rs 300, and Rs 100. The winning designs were compiled into a pattern book containing about one hundred ready-made house plans from which members could select models for construction.

Soon after the approval of the Master Plan, the Society was formally registered under the Co-operative Societies Act 1912 in 1924. The first building constructed for members and residents—the Gentlemen’s Club—was inaugurated by the Governor of Punjab, Sir Edward Maclagan, on 11 April 1924.

It is recorded that news of the Model Town Master Plan competition was published in the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, in its issue of 19 May 1923. This report has since been cited as a primary reference by several later sources, including the World Garden Cities website.

To be continued in the next episode.

(This article is excerpted from my forthcoming book The Birth of Model Town in Colonial Lahore (“برطانوی لاہور میں ماڈل ٹاؤن کا جنم”).

The book will soon be available through the Real Estate Think Tank and the web portal SyedShayan.com.

A comprehensive documentary on the same subject is also in its final stage of production.

Individuals or institutions wishing to share historical documents, research material, or photographic records are most welcome to contribute.

Current or former residents of Model Town who wish to share their memories or reflections for this project may contact

mail@syedshayan.com

Syed Shayan)