Dubai’s Mall of the World – World’s First Temperature-Controlled City

Developers Dubai Holding have announced their plans to develop ‘Mall of the World’, the world’s largest mall (8 million square feet or 183 acres), a new cultural district, a theme park and 20,000 hotel rooms with a capacity to host over 180 million visitors annually. What’s more, the district’s 7km street network will be covered by a retractable roof during the summer months, creating the world’s first ‘temperature controlled city’.

The plans for the Mall of the World include:

1. The world’s largest shopping mall, with a total of 8 million square feet of floor space
2. 100 new hotels and serviced apartments buildings containing 20,000 hotel rooms
3. Largest indoor family theme park in the world
4. Cultural district including a theatre district modeled on New York’s Broadway, ‘The Celebration Walk’ modeled on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, and shopping streets based on London’s Oxford Street
5. Dubai’s largest events centre, accommodating 15,000 people
6. A 3 million square foot “wellness district” catering to medical tourists
7. Temperature-controlled covered retail street network spreading over 7 km

The New South China Mall in Dongguan, China has a land area of 7.1 million square feet and is presently the world’s largest mall. The Philippines, meanwhile, currently has three of the world’s ten largest shopping malls. SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City is the world’s fourth largest, while SM North EDSA in Quezon City is fifth. MOA is currently the tenth largest in the world, but the Mall of the World will push down its rank to 11th.