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of
al-fina'
which contribute to the organic character of street
environments. During this process, people use
al-fina'
space in
order to create both traditional and modern settings.
4. The dynamic processes of
al-fina'
which are studied in Cairo
and cover several centuries can be used as a predictive tool for
future environmental development. This is not, of course, an
argument to predict all details of the development. It provides
guidelines about how
al-fina'
phenomena will take place in the
street environment of Islamic cities.
These are answers to the basic question of this research.
They can be used for two purposes, first as hypotheses to
stimulate further research in other cities and societies, and
second to develop hetter modern design strategies of urban street
environments in Egypt and other Islamic countries.
As is common in most such inductive research, this study
started with a basic question and ended with many answers as well
as many more questions. These questions are still open issues and
thus point to new areas of research.