Asia's
economic boom is reflected by the development of modern temples of
consumerism. Nine out of ten of the biggest shopping centres in the
world are now located in Asia. Much more than simply being opportunities
for shopping, these centres are increasingly turning into amusement
parks and lifestyle centres with shops attached. In February 2012,
Emporis generated a ranking of the world's largest shopping malls (by
gross leasable area) and analysed current developments.
The original idea of the shopping mall was developed in the USA – the first one was built in Minneapolis in 1956. The economic boom in Asia resulted in increasing consumption the construction of mega malls. Nowadays, Asia has more shopping malls than the US; the two largest can be found in China.
The following comparison might help to illustrate the astounding dimension of these shopping centres: the second in the Top 10 list, the Golden Resources Mall, offers 557,419 m², which is about the size of 75 football pitches. But it's not all rosy for all mega malls in Asia: the South China Mall, the world's largest mall with a commercial area of 600,153 m², reports a high vacancy rate due to decreased customer frequency. It is known as a dead mall.
The original idea of the shopping mall was developed in the USA – the first one was built in Minneapolis in 1956. The economic boom in Asia resulted in increasing consumption the construction of mega malls. Nowadays, Asia has more shopping malls than the US; the two largest can be found in China.
The following comparison might help to illustrate the astounding dimension of these shopping centres: the second in the Top 10 list, the Golden Resources Mall, offers 557,419 m², which is about the size of 75 football pitches. But it's not all rosy for all mega malls in Asia: the South China Mall, the world's largest mall with a commercial area of 600,153 m², reports a high vacancy rate due to decreased customer frequency. It is known as a dead mall.
Another strategy strives to unite architecture and environment. The 1
Utama Mall in Malaysia offers an indoor rainforest with koi basins for
example and Southeast Asia's largest roof garden can be found here. At
CentralWorld in Thailand, you can watch sea lions swimming in the indoor
salt water lake. In order to survive as a mega mall it has become
popular to integrate offices and residential space in the centres, as
can be seen in Cehavir Mall in Turkey.
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