Social capital has been one of the important topics recently in the cultural heritage field. From “social management" to “social governance" which opened varies diversified possibilities in the participation valorization aspects. Since communities are considered as one of the most important stakeholders, partners and part of the society, thus the most important part of the social governance is the community governance. Numerous researchers had argued that public participation can build social capital, social cohesion and social inclusion, while establish communication channels with strengthen and enhancement of the social networks. Therefore, cultural institution projects are often seen as illegal if they do not contain forms of citizen engagement.
The paper addresses the effectiveness of the participatory development approaches in one of the valued and livable heritage sites in Egypt which is Al- Muizz Street (part of Historic Cairo). Moreover, it examines the hypothesis that community governance participatory development approaches are a vehicle for building social capital.