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The infill design approach for heritage settings is a challenging task, and it draws the attention of design professionals and residents. The extant literature has advocated for a contextual design approach for new buildings in heritage sites. However, the degree of contextualism for a new building in heritage sites is subjective, and it varies between exact replication and contrast scales. This study aims to evaluate an appropriate design approach for historic precincts of Odisha, an eastern state of India.

Two prime eastern heritage sites (Puri and Ekamra Kshetra) are selected as cases in this study. This research methodology involves identifying key architectural elements from both sites and a questionnaire (prepared by design experts) based on interviewing 400 residents and 36 design professionals on their aesthetic preferences for the different architectural styles and elements. The questionnaire was prepared by the design experts based on the identified architectural styles and elements of both sites. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis are used to measure the significance of design approaches and elements.

This study's outcome confirms that most of the respondents (design professionals and residents) prefer the replication design approach with traditional architectural elements of Odisha. Also, documentation of the chronological development of architectural styles and elements of heritage sites of Odisha is done in this research.

This study has a few limitations: first, the land use characters (mixed, residential, commercial, etc.) of buildings in the heritage precinct are not considered in this research; second, this research has not included the financial aspect of infill design and last, the impact of respondents' socioeconomic factors on their aesthetic perceptions is not considered in this research.

The development authorities can use the outcomes of this research to implement a design strategy for infill buildings in the historical sites of Odisha.

This research article has documented traditional architectural elements of two prime heritage sites of India.

To date, no quantitative research has been done on infill design approaches in any Indian heritage precincts. This is the first quantitative research on the perception of stakeholders and users on the infill design in historical settings of Eastern India. This research has identified key architectural styles, elements and materials of the heritage sites.

India is an abode of several ancient heritage and sacred cities. However, limited heritage sites have been appropriately documented to date. Hence, limited information is available on the historical development, existing settings and challenges of ancient heritage cities. Puri, a prime sacred and heritage city, is selected to demonstrate the historical and spatial development and current issues of ancient Indian heritage cities.

Site visits, documentation of the existing settings and interviews with stakeholders and historians were conducted to understand this city's evolution and existing issues. Also, content analysis is administered to rank the stakeholders’ perceptions of the current challenges in the town.

The results reveal that the scarcity of resources, encroachment of public spaces, insufficient infrastructure and lack of maintenance of heritage structures are the major challenges for Puri. Also, the absence of collaboration between the involved agencies and heritage site-specific guidelines hinders the city’s redevelopment.

This research discusses the development phases and current issues of a prime heritage city in India. This knowledge will help urban planners and policymakers formulate policies for Puri's holistic development.

This is the first comprehensive research on historical development, current issues, and the reasons for any heritage city in Odisha state of India. This paper will help the academic literature to understand the chronological growth pattern in ancient, medieval, colonial, and post-colonial periods, as well as current issues and changing heritage imageability of Indian heritage sites of a similar nature.