Since built heritage continues to teach contemporary societies valuable lessons about traditional building practices among other substantial matters, its protection from environmentally insensitive development is important. The reconciliation of heritage conservation and development, therefore, is an appropriate research topic. This article aims at contributing to the global discourse on that topic, which is primarily supported by UNESCO and ICOMOS. It does so by evaluating the success of criteria in guiding the design and assessment of contemporary interventions in historic places. The purpose is to determine whether criteria, which usually come in the form of standards and/or design guidelines, hold the key to thoughtful change in historic places. To achieve this purpose, the author first gives an overview of the current state of knowledge on the topic, then analyzes major scholarly literature to identify the strengths and weaknesses of criteria and finally suggests other avenues worth exploring. As a result of this qualitative research, readers would gain a better understanding of the background, questioning and principles that should frame new architecture in existing urban fabric.

Keywords: Assessment; change; heritage conservation; design intervention.