7/05/2012

TOP 10 Largest Shopping Malls in the World (as of July 2012)




1. New South China Mall (Chinese: 新华南MALL; pinyin: Xinhuánán MALL) in Dongguan, China is the largest mall in the world based on gross leasable area, and ranked second in total area to the Dubai Mall. However, it is largely vacant. Unlike other "dead malls", which have been characterized by the departure of tenants, the New South China Mall has been 99% vacant since its 2005 opening as very few merchants have ever signed up.


Dongguan, with a population in excess of 10 million, is located in southern China's Guangdong province, east of the province's largest city, Guangzhou. The mall was built on land formerly used for farming, in the Wanjiang District of the city. The project was spearheaded by Hu Guirong (Alex Hu), who became a billionaire in the instant noodle industry.

The mall contains sufficient space for as many as 2,350 stores in approximately 659,612 square metres (7,100,000 sq ft) of leasable space and 892,000 square metres (9,600,000 sq ft) of total area.
The mall has seven zones modeled on international cities, nations and regions, including Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean, and California. Features include an 25 metres (82 ft) replica of the Arc de Triomphe, a replica of Venice's St Mark's bell tower, a 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) canal with gondolas, and a 553-meter indoor-outdoor roller coaster.

Since its opening in 2005, the mall has suffered from a severe lack of occupants. Much of the retail space has remained empty, with over 99% of the stores vacant. The only occupied areas of the mall are near the entrance where several Western fast food chains are located and a parking structure repurposed as a kart racing track. A planned Shangri-La Hotel has not been constructed.

There are many flaws to the mall's location. The mall is located in the suburbs of Dongguan, where it is practically accessible only by car or bus, rendering it unreachable to a large percentage of the public. Dongguan does not have an airport, nor are there highways adjacent to the mall's location.
Originally called "South China Mall", the center was redubbed as "New South China Mall, Living City" in September 2007.

The mall was formerly owned by Dongguan Sanyuan Yinghui Investment & Development (东莞市三元盈晖投资发展有限公司),[7] Hu Guirong's company, but a controlling interest in the mall has been sold to the Founders Group, a division of Beijing University.

Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Sam Green made a short film about the South China Mall called "Utopia Part 3: the World's Largest Shopping Mall." The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS's documentary series POV.





2. Jamuna Future Park is a planned shopping mall in Bangladesh. The construction started in 2002. However, due to its slow development of construction, the exterior was completed in 2008. It has been planned by the management that the shopping mall will be opened for all by June 2012. At the end of its construction, this shopping mall will be the 3rd largest shopping mall in the world and the largest in Asia with a gross leaseable area of 4,100,000 sq ft (380,000 m2). and total area of 5,450,000 sq ft (506,000 m2).

The complex is constructed on 33 acres (13 ha) of land surrounded by future residential areas and posh areas of Dhaka city like Gulshan (diplomatic zone), Banani, Baridhara (diplomatic zone), Bashundhara, Nikunja and Uttara. Adjacent to the shopping mall, renowned universities like IUB (Independent University of Bangladesh), NSU (North South University along with schools such as HURDCO International School, ISD, and the International School of Dhaka. Some other important businesses including several multinational companies offices and financial installations including the head office of Grameenphone have been established in the surrounding area. Shahjalal International Airport is just a few minutes drive, and major embassies and foreign offices are within walking distance.

The shopping complex has nine floors. The lower basement floor is reserved for car parking. The middle basement is reserved for car parking and a portion for a supermarket/hypermarket. Level 1 is the base floor for all atria, facilities for live entertainment, musical and fashion shows, etc. From the ground floor to the fifth floor, there are several categories of local and international brand shops, non-branded shops, bank space, online booths and food shops. The fifth floor has space for a children's theme park, a gymnasium and a health club, two separate swimming pools for women and men, spacious exhibition halls, banquet halls, international standard cineplex with seven individual hall rooms, 22-lane bowling alley with karaoke facilities, and a musical and entertainment floor.

The sixth through ninth floors are tower building/office space. It was not approved by Rajuk, so it was considered illegal. On February 4, 2010 floors six to nine were demolished by Rajuk and again on February 18 because of unapproved status.






3. Golden Resources Shopping Mall, or Jin Yuan (abbreviated from Chinese: 金源时代购物中心) is a shopping mall located near the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The nearest bus station is Chinese: 远大咯东口, which in English is Yuanda Road East.

In English, the mall has earned the nickname Great Mall of China, owing to its total area of 6 million square feet (557,419 square metres) over six floors. At 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America, Golden Resources Mall was the world's largest shopping mall from 2004 to 2005.

Although the developer of the mall initially estimated that the mall would have 50,000 shoppers a day, as of 2004 the actual number was far smaller, as few as 20 in an hour. One problem was that prices of most items sold were far beyond the purchasing ability of most ordinary Chinese. Another barrier was the inaccessibility of Golden Resources Shopping Mall to foreign consumers because of what Forbes magazine calls "a tough location outside the heart of the city." Although Line 10 Yuanda Lu Station will open beside the mall in late 2012, connecting it with the extensive Beijing Subway network, possibly relieving the problem a bit.

In 2005, Golden Resources Shopping Mall became the world's second-largest mall when South China Mall in Dongguan was completed. It was still in second place as of late 2006.


The mall has a total of 6 floors up and 1 floor down (B1). On the right side looking at the front, there is a large cosmetics area on the first floor. On the left looking on the right, from floors B1-5, are furniture stores on every floor.

The lowest floor, B1, has an ice-skating rink (called Champion Rink), a supermarket (LOTUS), an electronics store, and the floor mainly pertains to children's and maternity stores (clothing, sweets, child-friendly play places and eatery).

The first floor has things like travel, some food places, information, jewelry, clothing, etc. The second and third floors are men's and women's clothing, and also sports wear. The fourth floor is children's clothing and toys, and the fifth is mainly only food but it also has a bookstore and an arcade, and on the right, a movie theater. The sixth floor is the smallest and only is a small portion of the roof, and is the sports area. All floors (excluding the 6th) have other shops throughout and a Dairy Queen.





4. SM City North EDSA is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and third in the world in terms of leasable area (482,878 square meters). It is operated by SM Prime Holdings, a local holding company in the Philippines, the biggest retail and mall operator in Southeast Asia. Located at the intersection of North Avenue and Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City, SM City North EDSA opened on November 25, 1985. The original concept offered a variety of tenants and flagship stores (i.e., department store, supermarket, bowling area, a food court, and cinemas). The mall's redevelopment began with the opening of The Block in July 2006, and went into high gear with the launching of newly modernized Annex in December 2008, and the Skygarden in May 2009. The Car Park Plaza was also transformed into a lifestyle center on the same year. SM City North EDSA continues to be a work in progress with the ongoing renovation of the City Center and the development of the North Link. Back in 1985, it was the principal and only mall of its kind in the Philippines with a gross floor area of 120,000 square meters. It was constructed at a very challenging period in the Philippines' political history.





5. 1 Utama Shopping Centre is situated in Bandar Utama Damansara, a township in the northern part of Petaling Jaya, Selangor and is also located just opposite the Taman Tun Dr Ismail township in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Its gross built-up area totals 5,000,000 square feet (465,000 m²). It is the largest shopping mall in Malaysia and the fourth largest in the world.

1 Utama is developed over two phases. Phase 1 (commonly known as Old Wing) of the shopping mall was completed and opened to public in August 1995. The owner of the shopping mall, Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn Bhd decided to contract the management of the shopping mall to ÆON Co. (M) Berhad for 15 years until August 2010. ÆON operates its department store and supermarket as its anchor tenant in Phase 1.

Phase 2 (commonly known as New Wing) was completed and opened to public in December 2003. Unlike Phase 1, Bandar Utama City Centre manages this new extension, resulting in the entire shopping mall being managed separately with Parkson department store and Giant Hypermarket as anchor tenants. However, in 2008, GCH Retail (M) Sdn Bhd closed the Giant Hypermarket and opened a Cold Storage supermarket outlet instead.

Following the expiration of the management contract of Phase 1, Bandar Utama City Centre took over the management of Phase 1 from ÆON and has been managing the entire mall since August 2010. In 2011, Phase 1 underwent a massive renovation and refurbishment exercise which also sees the expansion of floor space to increase retail space. The renovation also sees the reopening of ÆON department store and supermarket on August 22, 2011 and the opening of Isetan department store on April 6, 2012.

1 Utama receives roughly 60,000 to 90,000 visitors every weekday, and as many as 120,000 on weekends according to the management. Its occupancy rate is 98%. This is higher than Centrepoint[disambiguation needed], a competing mall in the same township (although it is nowhere near the size of 1 Utama). Further away (less than 2 km), in the adjacent township, are malls such as The Curve, Ikea, e@Curve with a 10 screens under Cathay Cineplex and Ikano.

The Bandar Utama bus hub is also located in the vicinity of 1 Utama. It offers bus rides to Genting Highlands, Penang and Singapore


There is a great deal of dispute over whether the name of the mall is "One Utama" or "1 Utama". A press release made by the management (Bandar Utama City Centre Sdn. Bhd.) in late 2000s states that the official name is 1 Utama Shopping Centre and not "One Utama" or "1-Utama". This move was meant to limit the confusion of its name, although either one of the mentioned names are easily understood and cannot be confused because of their same meaning.

1 Utama is also popularly known as "One (1) U".


1 Utama was named "Shopping Complex of the Year" at the Retail World Excellence Awards 2006/07. In 2006, 1 First Avenue, a 30-storey corporate office tower (occupied by IBM, Schlumberger and KPMG) was completed and the 428-room 5-star One World Hotel attached to the mall opened the following year.

There exists a free shuttle service from several areas such as the Kelana Jaya LRT station and Sunrise Mont Kiara to increase accessibility. Apart from that, the 1 Utama has recently introduced a new shuttle service to and from Cyberjaya. However, this shuttle service is not free and costs RM3.00 per trip (coupons need to be purchased at 1 Utama's Customer Information Counter).





6. CentralWorld (Thai: เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์) is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the third largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office tower, is owned by Central Pattana. In 2006, after three years of design and renovation, CentralWorld was expanded to 550,000 square metres of shopping mall and 1,024,000 square metres of complex, topping nearby rival Siam Paragon in terms of size.

On 19 May 2010, CentralWorld was one of the many properties set on fire when the Red Shirts anti-government protestors were forcibly removed after months of demonstrations which included complete blockage of the Rachaprasong shopping district. The parts of the complex most affected were the Zens department store and its adjacent annex.

A portion of the shopping complex reopened on 28 September 2010 after months of repair work.


Originally called the World Trade Center, the eight-story mall was opened in 1990. Central Group acquired the property in 2002 from the Wang Petchaboon group and changed the name to Central World Plaza. In 2005 it was renamed CentralWorld. It is on leased Crown Property Bureau land. In its acquisition, the Central Group's property development arm, Central Pattana (SET: CPN), secured a new 30-year lease on the site.

Anticipating the opening of the luxury Siam Paragon, CPN started massive renovations and expansion on the site in 2003. The original mall structure was 300,000 square meters. The expansion plans boosted that to 550,000 square meters. Though work was yet complete, CPN held an official opening of the renovated complex on July 21, 2006; it was expected to be fully operational by October 2006. By May 2007 the mall was fully opened, but some parts of the upper floors remained vacant. Major exterior construction was ongoing on the hotel in the northwest corner of the mall and the extension floors to the ZEN department store in southeast corner.

The renovated complex aimed to attract 150,000 customers per day, spending more than 7 billion baht annually. It marketed itself as a middle class shopping center, opposed to the upper class-market Siam Paragon.

CentralWorld did not achieve its goal in term of daily visitors because of several reasons, including political turmoil and an ongoing economic downturn. However, shopper numbers soon increased, though reliable figures are lacking. Bangkok's New Year countdown celebrations were held in front of CentralWorld, which quickly became a tradition, with the number of people increasing every year.

Renovations included completing an unfinished office tower, work on which had been halted in 1999 with only 39 of the planned 63 floors completed. Construction resumed in early 2003, expanding the tower to a 45-story, 204 meter, design, with the completed tower opening in 2005.

Centara Grand is a chain hotel built on land leased from the Crown Properties Bureau. The flagship hotel, the Centara Grand at CentralWorld, is attached to both the CentralWorld mall and the Offices at CentralWorld.


CentralWorld was temporarily closed on 19 May 2010 due to severe arson damage, which occurred as troops dislodged protesters from the area during the 2010 Thailand political protests. The adjoining 'Zen' section suffered massive damage from the rioters.

The Isetan portion was reopened soon after. Following repairs, a large part of CentralWorld was reopened on 28 Sep 2010. The 'Zen' section reopened on 6 Jan 2012.

CentralWorld is located in Pathum Wan district at the Ratchaprasong Intersection in one of Bangkok's busiest shopping and tourism districts.

Nearby Shopping Centers and Attractions include Gaysorn, BigC Ratchadamri, the Erawan Shrine, Amarin Plaza, Central Chidlom, Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center, Siam Square, MBK Center, Platinum Fashion Mall, Pantip Plaza, Chamchuri Square, Chulalongkorn University, the Royal Police Headquarter, and Wat Pathum Wanaram.


BTS Skytrain – CentralWorld is located between Chit Lom and Siam Stations. An elevated walkway connects the two stations to facilitate foot traffic. CentralWorld can also be accessed from Gaysorn or BigC Ratchaprasong via pedestrian overpasses.

Khlong Saen Saep Express Boat – Pratu Nam pier, about a 5-minute walk





6. Istanbul Cevahir Shopping and Entertainment Centre, also known as Şişli Kültür ve Ticaret Merkezi (Şişli Culture and Trade Centre) is a modern shopping mall located in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. Opened on 15 October 2005, Istanbul Cevahir is the largest shopping mall in Europe, and the sixth largest in the world.

Istanbul Cevahir was built on a 62,475 m2 (672,000 sq ft) land plot at a cost of US$250 million. It has a total floor area of 420,000 m2 (4,521,000 sq ft) and a gross leasable area of 110,000 m2 (1,184,000 sq ft) for shops and restaurants.[3] The six retail floors of the shopping centre house 343 shops (some of which are the first in Turkey to sell certain international brands); 34 fast food restaurants and 14 exclusive restaurants.
Other facilities include a large stage for shows and other events; 12 cinemas including a private theatre and a cinema for children; a bowling hall; a small roller coaster; and several other entertainment facilities.

The building's 2,500 m2 (26,910 sq ft) glass roof carries the second biggest clock in the world, with three-metre (10 ft) high digits.

The car park has an area of 71,000 m2 (764,000 sq ft) and a capacity of 2,500 cars, spread on four floors.

The mall is equipped with high technology security and surveillance devices. 5,000 service people are employed on the property.

The shopping centre is situated in the business quarter on the European side of Istanbul, between Şişli and Mecidiyeköy, and can easily be reached by the Şişli station of the Istanbul Metro. Three floors of the shopping centre are directly connected to the metro station.








More than 2500 commercial units as shops and stores with high welfare facilities

- Hyper Market in 12000m2 with automatic provided ramps and escalators.
- Indoor amusement park in 28000m2 with modern attractive machines and an amazing bowling saloon.
- Praying room, Emergency, Restaurants, fast foods, and Coffee shops.
- Six 150-seat modern cinemas equipped with high technology systems.
- High equipped outdoor amusement park in about 37000m2 land.
- Parking lots for 5500 cars with numerous separated entry and exit.
- Green fascinating landscape in amusement park, around market and the artificial lake.
- Easy emergency and rescue team access all over the complex.
- the glorious International Hotel, Burj-e Fars, with helicopter pad.





8. Mid Valley Megamall is a complex comprising a shopping mall, an office tower block, 30 offices, and 2 hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was opened in November 1999. The mall has 4.5 million square feet (420,000 m²) of total floor area, out of which 1.7 million square feet (158,000 m²) is leasable space.

It houses a 48,300 square foot (4,500 m²) convention centre and it is situated adjacent to a 646 room business hotel named Cititel Midvalley and 30 units of exclusive 11 storey signature offices. A second hotel, Boulevard, opened in mid 2005.





9. Sunway Pyramid is a distinctive retail landmark located in the heart of Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya. It was opened in July 1997 as Malaysia's first themed shopping and entertainment mall.

One of the mall's most easily recognised designs is the Egyptian-inspired Pyramid with a lion "standing guard" at the entrance. The rest of the building is embellished in the monumental style, complete with pseudo-hieroglyphics decorating facades, along with numerous Pharonic statuaries.

Sunway Pyramid is also one of the only shopping malls in Malaysia to have an indoor ice skating rink.

A monorail station connected to the Kuala Lumpur Monorail was originally planned to be built there. Construction began in early 2006, but was stopped and as of 2007 demolition is being considered.

The new wing of Sunway Pyramid, called the Pyramid 2 (or P-2), was opened in 2007. It is open to newer retailers such as Jusco, Giant, Harvey Norman and so on. There is also a new section in P-2 called Marrakesh, named after the place in Morocco. Expansion of the parking area to nearly 8 floors makes this place popular with tourists, local and foreign alike. It is also plays host to many exclusive boutiques.

Its gross floor area of are totals 4,276,945 square feet (396,000 m²). Sunway Piramid it is one of the largest shopping centres in Malaysia.





10. SM Mall of Asia (MOA) is a shopping mall owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall developer and owner in the Philippines. SM Mall of Asia is the 2nd largest mall in the Philippines after SM City North EDSA, 3rd largest shopping mall in Asia and the 4th[1] (Ref. Forbes' World's 10 Largest Shopping Malls) largest shopping mall in the world. It has a land area of 42 hectares and has a gross floor area of an approximate 390,193 m² (4.2 million square feet)[2] and 407,101 m² of total area. The mall is located in Bay City, Pasay City, Philippines near the SM Central Business Park, the Manila Bay and the southern end of EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue). The mall attracts a daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people. SM Mall of Asia's reign from being the largest shopping mall in the Philippines from 2006 was lost when SM City North EDSA was redeveloped in 2008 pushing Mall of Asia to 2nd place.

The Mall of Asia was constructed within a reclaimed area. It is built on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land and has a gross floor area of 390,193 square meters. The mall is located at the southmost tip of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. A roundabout was constructed in the front of the mall with a huge bronze globe similar to that of the Universal Studios Theme Parks and the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park in New York City. On November 18, 2009, the globe was turned into an LED Globe also known as GlobAmaze. The first and only full global video display in Asia with its high resolution and full display graphics made possible by the LED’s 26,300 pieces of point lights. This cutting edge LED technology is among other things, weather-proof, has superior brightness, and a long lifetime.


The SM Mall of Asia mall grounds consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways; the Main Mall, the Entertainment Mall, and the north and south carpark buildings.

The Main Mall includes shopping and dining establishments and the food court. The Entertainment Mall is a two-story complex, majority of which is open-air, and facing the Manila Bay.

The mall's 5,000 parking spaces are divided across two, six-story parking buildings conveniently designated the North and South parking buildings. The South Parking building houses the mall's official SM Department Store, while the mall's supermarket, the SM Hypermarket is located at the North Parking building.
One of the mall's somewhat-unique features is a 20-seater tram traveling around the mall grounds to ferry shoppers around.

Concierge desks are located in the Main Mall and the Entertainment Mall.

The mall includes branches of all of the standard anchor stores found in most of the SM Supermalls. The first-ever branch of Taste Asia, one of the SM Supermalls' food court brands, is located right outside the mall's supermarket, the sprawling SM Hypermarket.


One of the mall’s main attractions is the first ever IMAX theater in the country, along with a Director's Club Theater for intimate screenings (30 La-Z-Boy seats), a Premiere Cinema, and the CenterStage Cinema which can used for live musical concerts and theatrical performances. The San Miguel-Coca-Cola IMAX Theatre is one of the world's biggest IMAX screens in 3D including 2D screenings.

In addition to the mall's special theaters, it also has six regular two-tiered movie theaters similar to the ones found in almost every SM Supermall.

The mall features the Philippines's first Olympic-sized ice skating rink. At 61 by 30 meters, the rink is described as the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey. Along with plain access and skate rentals, the rink's operators also offer training programs in both figure skating and ice hockey.[6] Several ice skating competitions have been held at the mall's ice skating rink, the most prestigious yet having been Skate Asia 2007. It was also the first time that the Philippines had hosted any international ice skating event.

The mall's open-air Music Hall directly facing the sea has also held several events, contests and concerts.
The mall also provides office space. Dell International Services, a subsidiary of Dell, Inc. once occupied a 13,470.5-square meter area at the second floor of the north parking building of the mall. At present, Teleperformance has taken over that space.