International Journal of Development and Sustainability ISSN: 2186-8662 – www.isdsnet.com/ijds Volume 6 Number 7 (2017): Pages 399-411 ISDS Article ID: IJDS17072401 The perceived impact of pedestrianization on local businesses in Al-Muizz Egypt: A case study Heba Assem ElFouly * , Aly Abdel-Gawad Ghaly Department of Urban Design, Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning, Cairo University Giza, Egypt Abstract Local businesses in historic centers are not only a simple service, for tourists and local communities, but also a significant element of local identity and a part of the cultural heritage of the place. Whereas pedestrianization has been widely adopted as a means to revitalizing historic centers and as a key factor in promoting tourism, evidence has revealed that the buy-in of local businesses (as one of the main beneficiaries) is vital to ensure the success of pedestrianization schemes and to get support for future ones. This study aims to explore the perceived impact of pedestrianization from the local businesses perspective within the Egyptian context. Adopting a case-study approach, Al-Muizz street: the main commercial lifeline for the Historic Fatimid Cairo, which has been lately pedestrianized, is evaluated. Using field observation and questionnaire methods, data is collected and analyzed. Results show that despite the positive impact perceived due to pedestrianization, different types of businesses have not been similarly benefited from such a scheme. Keywords: Pedestrianization; Economic Impact; Historic Areas; City Center; Local Business * Corresponding author. E-mail address: author@email.com Published by ISDS LLC, Japan | Copyright © 2017 by the Author(s) | This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite this article as: ElFouly, H.A. and Ghaly, A.A.G. (2015), “The perceived impact of pedestrianization on local businesses in Al-Muizz Egypt: A case study”, International Journal of Development and Sustainability, Vol. 6 No. 7, pp. 399-411.