In 1888, an extension scheme called the Lahore Gate Improvement Scheme was planned by Robert Clarke to draw residents away from the old city to a new type of market square, around which shops would be built. It remained incomplete. In 1936, the Delhi Improvement Trust built areas like Daryaganj South for wealthy Indians with houses being grouped around parks.

As the British wanted Delhi to forget its Mughal past, they first exiled the Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar to Burma. They dismantled his court, razed several of the palaces, closed down gardens and built barracks for troops inside Red Fort. Mosques were either destroyed or their usage was changed. Large areas of the city were demolished and its canals filled up, besides many other measures.

The Old City of Delhi was a walled city characterised by mosques, havelis, crowded mohallas, narrow and winding lanes, as well as water channels. Before the revolt, the British lived in it by adjusting to its culture. However, after the revolt, they wanted to rid it of its Mughal past.
The area around the Red Fort was completely cleared of gardens, pavilions, and mosques, as the British wanted a clear ground for security reasons. Mosques,
in particular, were either destroyed, or put to other uses. One-third of the city was demolished and its canals filled up.

De-urbanisation is basically a process by which more and more people leave towns and cities due to the reduction of their political or commercial importance.
During the late 18th century, the earlier trade centers of Machlipatnam, Surat and 
Seringapatam were de-urbanized, as trade shifted to the Presidency cities of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta due to the British rule in the country. Similarly, earlier centers of regional power collapsed when the British defeated the local rulers.

Three differences in the city design of New Delhi and Shahjahanabad are given in the table below

(i) The Partition of India in 1947 led to a massive transfer of population on both sides of the new border. As a result, the population of Delhi more than doubled through refugees from Pakistan. 
(ii) Thousands in Delhi were killed due to rioting and their homes were looted and burned.
(iii) Refugees roamed the streets of Shahjahanabad, searching for empty homes to occupy, forcing Muslims to leave or sell their properties.
(iv) The refugees had to take up new occupations ironsmiths, replacing the earlier Muslims.

The word 'renaissance' literally means rebirth of art and learning or a time of great creative activity. Before 1857, Delhi developed differently from the Presidency cities of Madras, Bombay or Calcutta, because of the living areas of Indians and the British were not sharply separated. The British lived along with the wealthier Indians in the walled city and learned to enjoy Urdu / Persian culture and poetry; they participated in local festivals. Further, the establishment of the Delhi College had led to a great intellectual flowering in the sciences as well as humanities, largely in the Urdu language, making people term it as the period of Delhi renaissance.