ABSTRACT
Kumbakonam, a historical town, addresses new challenges and changes. The visibility and significance of the town and its heritage settings are decaying due to the process of physical transformation. Thus, this paper intends to highlight the imageability of the Kumbakonam heritage settings that still survive in the town and reflect its characteristic elements. The findings reveal that the town of Kumbakonam is being confronted with the pressure of development and changes to its skyline and its urban fabric/façade elements. Moreover, this confrontation is accompanied by meagre changes in how towns conserve and promote their heritage settings against the haphazard development. The findings suggest that the heritage settings of the town contribute to the imageability of places. In this regard, the conservation strategies should be introduced to revive the imageability of the town, as the image of the town is distinct only when its heritage settings are conserved.
