10.1007/978-981-10-2138-1_2

India is a country of multitudes and multivalence, a country so diverse that language changes every quarter of a hundred kilometers. The country is as old as history itself and has some of the oldest cities by the time period over which they have been continuously inhabited like Varanasi, Madurai, Ujjain, etc. (Table 2.1). The country and its innumerable cities and antediluvian settlements have an astounding legacy in terms of heritage and culture.Conservation and protection of these built as well as concomitant intangible heritage should be an integral part of urban planning, city development, and -importantly - urban design, incorporating architectural conservation, in our urban areas. Old conurbations and heritage built forms are enormously significant as they not only impart variety to our built-up environments, stimulating visual importance, but also give a sense of pride to inhabitants and enthusiasm within the urban settlement.The current paper tries to help understand the meanings of the key terms in culture and heritage conservation. It explores the necessity and advantages of conservation of cultural heritage in terms of identity, unity, tourism, and economy and the principles that can be adopted for the same. Taking the example of various projects throughout the paper, Pondicherry in specific, the paper tries to develop an understanding as to what should be done and what shall be avoided in conserving the cultural heritage of the place.