Heritage conservation and urban development have been considered as two rncontroversial concepts. In rapidly changing cities, like Addis Ababa, the conflict rnbetween the two concepts appears acute and complex. The overshadowing of the rnnew development over the urban heritages is degrading the spirit of the existing rnurban space. The National Theatre Area is among the urban quarters that suffer rnfrom the mismatch of the development with the urban heritage. Its location in the rnmain city center which requires a minimum of 70m building height for new rndevelopers made the problem more complicated. rnThe purpose of this research is to stimulate a heritage sensitive design in areas rnwhere development takes place. It reveals the fight observed between the urban rnheritage of the study area and the new development. It also questions what kind of rninterplay should be created between the two concepts. In order to determine waysrnof bringing the two ideas into good dialogue the researcher has reviewed related rntheories and philosophies; examined similar international practices; analyzed the rnstudy area; collected and examined different data and questionnaires from different rnstakeholders; and also has done an interview for concerned government officials.rnThe data are primarily collected by qualitative methods supplemented by a rnquantitative method. The investigation has been carried out from the perspective in rnwhich new development and urban conservation can be achieved in a harmonious rnway. Moreover, contextual analysis has been done to relate the literature reviewrnwith the existing case analysis. The researcher revealed that the absence of rnpolitical initiations by the government, lack of coordination between stakeholders, rninsufficient policies and guidelines, lack of community participation, the slanted rnattitude of architects and planners against heritages are some of the reasons that rncause the conflict. Beyond the recommendations, the researcher has proposed a rndescriptive urban conservation proposal for the study area.