EMAAR announces 'The Dubai Mall', the world's largest shopping centre

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The Dubai Mall project, approximately a world-beating nine million square foot shopping colossus, will one day nestle in the shadow of Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower.

The scheme will comprise a five million square foot mall, residential and retail amenities. The mall itself, equivalent to the size of more than 50 international-class soccer pitches, will be the largest shopping space in the world, bigger than Edmonton Mall, Canada, and much larger than the Mall of America, in Bloomington, St. Paul, Minnesota.

'We are expecting an annual footfall of thirty five million visitors in the first full year of business and an annualised growth in mall traffic of about 20 to 30 per cent,' said Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Executive Director, Retail and Leasing Department, EMAAR Properties. 'Tourism is the engine driving Dubai's growth. We have a huge potential audience. Some 3.2 billion consumers armed with a collective GDP of US$18.3 trillion will be knocking on our door.'

'Daring planning is needed to win the global luxury tourism industry over. The Dubai Mall and Burj Dubai make this possible,' he said.

Like a majestic ocean liner coming into view, the leviathan will be anchored by a waterfront atrium providing spectacular views of Burj Dubai and the surrounding skyline, and an aquarium of glass tunnels to wander among sharks and stingrays. Behind the elegance of its three level glass façade, it will contain the largest gold souk (market) on earth and one million square feet of leading fashions.

An artificial lake occupying a total area of 4.3 million square feet will add to the site's tranquillity. A residential facility of 2.5 million square feet is planned while additional retail space will total 1.5 million square feet. For the convenience of shoppers and visitors there will be more than adequate underground parking for 16,000 cars, with even more over ground parking by lakeside slots.

Evidence that planners are not resting on their laurels, the development will attempt to transform Dubai from shopping capital of the Middle East to shopping capital of the world. For a city where shopping is akin to a national pastime, The Dubai Mall will truly become the city's centrepiece.

Adding to the excitement, the 'Mall of Malls' is an integral part of the Burj Dubai project, whose height will be disclosed as finalisation approaches. Construction is expected to begin within weeks. Hotels, private residences, cinemas and entertainment sites will radiate out in a series of ellipses from a tower that will magnetise interest and add prestige to the entire project.

The explosive growth of tourism to the emirate lies at the heart of plans for shopping's new centre of gravity. Dubai's annual Shopping Festival has put the city, with over 40 shopping malls already, on the map. Partly as a result, Dubai welcomed over four million visitors last year, while 15 million tourists are projected annually by the end of the decade.

'His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Vision 2010 masterplan puts tourism at the centre of Dubai's growth plan. His recognition that Dubai, despite its two-thirds non-oil GDP, needs an infrastructure overhaul, has set the tone for what we are trying to achieve,' said Mr. Al Hashimi. With assets of AED 22 billion, EMAAR already has 10 major real estate projects under way in the emirate.

Dubai International Airport is working flat out on the second phase of a AED 15 billion plan, scheduled for completion in 2006, to build a third terminal and modernise concourses. The airport will have the capacity to handle over 30 million passengers by 2010. To cater to increasing waves of Western and Asian tourists anxious to experience sun, sea and shopping, Dubai-based airline Emirates, which flies to more than 70 destinations ordered 71 new aircraft in June, more than doubling fleet size projections for 2012.

Dubai's astonishing growth has been fuelled by various economic factors including the role of the tourism and services sectors and more than AED100 billion which is being invested in new projects in the coming decade. The emirate's property market is currently estimated to be worth AED 40 billion. Economic growth projections for the city are currently bullish as high oil prices drive prosperity.

Meanwhile, the city's successful hosting of the World Bank and IMF meetings in September has sparked a wave of new interest in the city as a meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destination.