Model Town, Delhi

There is a particular quiet dignity to Model Town, the kind that only comes with age and thoughtful planning. Model Town is a posh residential area in North Delhi, established by the DLF Group, then known as Delhi Land and Finance, in the early 1950s. This rich residential area was Delhi's first upscale neighborhood after independence. Long before that, the ground it stands on had already caught the planners' eye: the Model Townsite had previously been one of the selected sites for the development of New Delhi by the Delhi Town Planning Committee in 1912.

Today, Model Town is organized into blocks and sub-colonies and spans a broad region, and along with Alipur and Narela, it is one of the three administrative divisions of the North Delhi district. Its pin code, 110009, is shared with neighbouring Model Town Phase 1 and Phase 2, and the wider colony borders Mukherjee Nagar, Azadpur, and Harit Vihar near the Ring Road corridor.

What sets Model Town apart, even now, is its layered social fabric. It is close to Delhi University's North Campus, and numerous prestigious schools, hospitals, branch offices of well-known banks, and their ATMs are close by. Families who have lived here for decades speak of it in the same breath as Civil Lines and Karol Bagh — old Delhi neighbourhoods that never quite went out of fashion. The neighborhood features a premium, family-friendly vibe with landmarks like Coronation Park, Naini Lake, and Queen Mary's School.

The residential market itself is a patchwork of independent DDA-era houses, builder floors, and a scattering of newer apartment blocks, which keeps the area feeling lived-in rather than manufactured. The neighborhood has a lively nightlife and is very safe, and its roads, while occasionally congested during peak hours, are generally well maintained for a colony of its vintage.