Last Updated on January 3, 2023
If you love shopping while traveling, the world’s largest shopping cities are likely to be at the top of your travel list. Whether it’s shoes, bags, clothing, or jewelry, everyone has a weak point – an item they spend on quickly. These record-breaking shopping malls cater to all of them.
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Top 10 Biggest Malls in the World
Here’s a list of the biggest and most famous shopping centers around the globe
1. Iran Mall
Have you ever heard about this mall before? If not, then you are really missing a lot. But, since you are here, you will know more about it.
The Iran Mall is a shopping mall located in northwest Tehran, Iran, by Chitgar Lake. It is the largest mall in the world by total land area (1,950,000 m2). The first phase of the mall includes 700 shops, a 20,000 square meter hypermarket, a fashion avenue, a diamond and crystal atrium, three food courts with more than 200 restaurants.
This is not the end at all. Do you know that it also includes a 3,300 square meter book garden with 67,000 volumes of books and several book stores, a cinema complex with 12 IMAX cinemas as well as a state-of-the-art 2,000-seat theater, a family entertainment center with a roofed amusement park, a museum, art galleries, a permanent car showroom, an Iranian Bazaar, and three hotels including a 5-star luxury hotel with 450 rooms, a 3,000-seat conference hall, a convention center, several galleries, and meeting and banquet facilities.
Wow! This mall is really fascinating. You can find whatever you want here.
Are you aware that even the roof of the mall serves as a sports complex with long routes for hiking, cycling, and public activities? It includes 15 sports fields, tennis courts, a 12,000 square meter ice rink and swimming pool
2. Dubai Mall
I know you might have heard about this particular mall which is located at the heart of Dubai town. It is the second-largest mall in the world after the Iran Mall by total land area, and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area. It has a total retail floor area of 502,000 square meters (5,400,000 sq ft).
This is one of the spectacular malls you need to visit. It is part of the 20-billion-dollar Downtown complex (called Downtown Dubai) adjacent to the iconic Burj Khalifa, and includes over 1,200 shops. In 2011, it was the most visited building on the planet, attracting over 54 million visitors each year.
3. South China Mall
South China Mall formerly called New South China Mall is a shopping mall which is located in Wanjiang Shangquan, Dongguan, China. It is the largest shopping mall in the world when measured in terms of gross leasable area, and third in terms of total area.
4. Mall of Africa
Mall of Africa is a shopping mall located in Waterfall City, Midrand, Gauteng. It is the largest single-phase shopping mall to be built in Africa. The shopping mall occupies a retail area 131 000 square meters, and a gross area of 550 000 square metres. It has two main levels of shopping as well as an outdoor restaurant plaza that connects directly to the Waterfall City Park.
5. West Edmonton Mall
West Edmonton is located in Edmonton, Alberta. It is the biggest mall in Canada, and it started in 1981. The shopping mall covers a gross area of about 490,000 m2 (5,300,000 sq ft). It holds over 800 stores and services including nine attractions, two hotels, and over 100 dining venues in the complex, and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles.
6. Istanbul Cevahir
Istanbul Cevahir also known as the Şişli Culture and Trade Centre is a modern shopping mall located on the Büyükdere Avenue in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was opened on 15 October 2005, and it is the largest shopping mall in Europe in terms of gross leasable area and one of the largest in the world.
The shopping mall was built on a 62,475 m2 (672,000 sq ft) land plot and 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.
Do you know that the six retail floors of the shopping centre house 343 shops, 34 fast food restaurants and 14 exclusive restaurants? It also has a large stage for shows and other events, 12 cinemas, a bowling hall, a small roller coaster, and several other entertainment facilities.
7. 1 Utama
1 Utama is a shopping mall in Bandar Utama, Selangor, Malaysia, with an area of 5,590,000 square feet (519,000 m2) and containing 713 stores. It is the largest shopping mall in Malaysia and the seventh-largest shopping mall in the world.
The first phase of the mall, now known as the “Old Wing”, was opened in September 1995. With the increase in customer traffic and demand for retail spaces inside the mall, a second phase called “New Wing” was added in 2003.
An additional expansion of 592,015 square feet (55,000.0 m2) was added in 2018 with the addition of 1 Utama E. Today the mall houses multiple retail areas, restaurants, cafes, sports facilities, a rainforest, and a bus station with national and international services.
8. CentralWorld
CentralWorld is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the largest shopping complexes 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 m2 (5,900,000 sq ft) of shopping mall and 830,000 m2 (8,900,000 sq ft).
9. SM Megamall
SM Megamall is the second-largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the ninth-largest in the world that is developed and operated by SM Prime Holdings. It is located in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines.
The mall occupies a land area of approximately 10 hectares (25 acres) and has a total floor area of 474,000 square meters (5,100,000 sq ft). The mall has a maximum capacity of 4 million people.
10. SM Mall of Asia
SM Mall of Asia is a large shopping mall in Bay City, Pasay, Philippines, near the SM Central Business Park, the Manila Bay, and the southern end of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). It is also one of the largest shopping malls in the world.
Owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall chain owner and developer in the Philippines, it has a land area of 67 hectares (170 acres), a gross floor area of approximately 432,891 m2 (4,659,600 sq ft), and offers 46,647 m2 (502,100 sq ft) for conventions and social functions. The area attracts daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people.