Dubai Holding and Local Authorities Unveil Plans For New City Featuring World’s Largest Indoor Mall

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Dubai—The largest mall in the world was recently announced in the largest city of the United Arab Emirates, as developers have lined up the first temperature-controlled city in the world. The announcement was made by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President of the UAE and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. According to developer Dubai Holding, the pedestrian city project will require funds totaling approximately Dh25 billion, or $6.8 billion.

According to the recently unveiled plans, the entertainment district will include the 8 million square-foot mall, featuring a less typical layout. Essentially, the retail property will be made up of a number of streets, which are to be constructed along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. The Mall of the World project will create a controlled environment that would essentially keep temperatures on a more tolerable level, well below the summer values reached in the UAE, which frequently hit the 100-degree mark. During the winter, the large glass dome covering the city will be open, in order to allow more

The large scope of the entire project, calling for around 48 million square feet of space to be developed in Dubai, has experts warning local authorities and investors regarding a new overbuilding problem. With parts of the economy still affected by the debt crisis experienced by the country over the past decade, the large project would challenge the market’s parameters, with a substantial amount of commercial space and housing stock coming to the market once the project is finished.

Specifics of the new City include the mall, a hospitality district including 100 hotels and serviced apartment building offering around 20,000 rooms, the largest indoor family theme park in the world and a wellness district totaling approximately 3 million square feet. The project will also push the cultural element, with a large district of the new city dedicated to structures such as theatres resembling those on Broadway, a Ramblas Street-inspired Celebration Walk, and new shopping streets in the vein of Oxford Street in London. The development will also include a 15,000-seat celebration center, the largest in Dubai. Parking facilities that could accommodate up to 50,000 vehicles at a time are also part of the integrated city plans laid out by developer Dubai Holding. The logistics of the City would allow the area to accommodate around 180 million visitors annually.