As a result of current urbanization dynamics the cultural heritage of Indian cities is under
enormous pressure and threatened by decay. At the same time it makes a central contribution to
social and societal identity of these cities and has a major influence both economically and
aesthetically on the competitiveness of cities in international and national contexts. The
responsibility for safeguarding urban cultural heritage however does not lie with public
authorities only but is embedded in the complex structures of public and private individual
and collective stakeholders acting at different levels with their respective interests. This
study shows that social and professional discourses on urban cultural heritage and its
protection highly influence conservation efforts. To overcome the sectoral perspective that
dominates the existing research on urban cultural heritage in the Indian context it draws on
an analytical governance approach. This approach makes it possible to identify three governance
orders and thus to make visible the interconnections between imagination regulation and
implementation.
