ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the nature of Historic Districts conserved and preserved places. It explores exactly what constitutes the heritage that is conserved or preserved and explains why interest in conservation and preservation has grown apace in age. Heritage may be conceived at the level of the individual, referring to personal inheritance or a bequest, or it may operate at the level of the social, referring to a collective heritage that links a group to a shared inheritance. Intangible benefits may also be reaped through preservation and conservation that contribute to the wider economic regeneration of areas. Understanding the growing interest in heritage involves being aware of how preservation and conservation have been achieved. Different meanings have come to be attached to processes of conservation and preservation, and the acts themselves become contested and dissonant.
