The recent redevelopment activities in the inner city of Addis Ababa have led to therndemolition of built heritage and historic neighborhoods. To this end, an in-depth study on arnparticular architectural heritage located in the historic inner city along two of the old streetsrnof the city and the context around was selected as the focus of this study. Qualitativernapproach was employed in data collection. This study documents the architectural heritagernand urban traces along these streets through direct observation, physical mapping andrnphotographs. It also seeks out to understand the balance between the fast pacedrnredevelopment oriented urban renewal endeavors and heritage preservation in the innerrncity through researching the process of preservation on the selected case.rnThe findings show that residents and business owners in the study area consider bothrntangible and intangible heritage as urban traces, which is a completely different perspectivernas compared to the heritage selection and registration employed by the relevantrngovernment offices that only focus on the former. Urban traces found through the studyrnbelong to four different categories: Architectural heritage, heritage activities, heritagernpersonalities and marks of historic occurrences. The level of awareness on and contributionrnto the heritage and urban traces among the current residents and business owners that arernpredominantly tenants is higher than the building owners and rightful heirs that live elsernwhere due to one major reason. The current residents and business owners base theirrnlivelihood on the heritage and have grown attached to the heritage over the years playing arnmajor role in the protection and preservation of the same, while the actual heirs have lostrnattachment with the heritage with this regard. Demolished heritage buildings are stillrnconsidered as urban traces and architectural heritage among the community in the studyrnarea. Gap is also identified in the basic definition and understanding of heritage andrnheritage preservation among different stakeholders resulting in hindrance of the latter.rnCoordination also lacks among different government offices involved in heritagernpreservation, city renewal planning and implementation.rnThe study recommends: the establishment of a framework in government offices to involvernthe community in historic neighborhoods in the identification, inventory, assessment,rnprotection and preservation of heritage to achieve sustainable outcomes; the registrationrnand preservation of heritage in the inner city that includes intangible heritage and the entirernhistoric context; the establishment of an accountable authority dealing with urban renewalrnand heritage preservation; the redirection of renewal endeavors towards conservationrnapproach focusing on expansion areas for development and revitalizing the inner cityrnthrough conservation endeavors, this would prosper Addis Ababa in the long run