While malls might be slowly becoming a thing of the past, many still exist in all their glory, and we’re taking a look at the biggest malls in the world in 2017.
There used to be a time where going to the mall was a normal part of life. From clothes and shoes to home goods, everything people needed could be found in the mall. These massive, multi-story venues also served as the go-to hangout spot for teens in many of America’s cities. While that trend disappeared by the time I was a teen, I do remember my older siblings always visiting the mall with friends. I guess there’s something intriguing about being able to walk in circles and pass the same stores and people over and over. Personally, I really hate shopping and only ever liked going to the mall for the food court, and the chocolate chip cookies with creme sandwiched in the middle.
While traditional shopping malls may not have as strong a role in American society as they once did, they are still around. If you visit around the Christmas holiday when Santa Claus is stationed right in the center of the mall, it looks like things never even changed. Whether from its sheer size and over 500 stores, or from the attraction of just seeing it in person, the Mall of America in Minnesota, the largest mall in the US, is still thriving. The mall also has all sorts of attractions like an aquarium and a theme park. Shoppers really love their high-end malls, which you can learn about on this list of high end shopping malls in America. While large shopping malls aren’t really a big deal in Europe, they do have some places that come close, which you can see with this list of biggest outlet malls in Europe.
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Mall of America is massive, but the continent of Asia is looking to take claim as home to some of the biggest malls in the world. Not only is the South China Mall, the largest mall in Asia, it was also the biggest mall in the world 2016. However, much of the mall was a ghost town for many years, but the new South China Mall may be regaining life. India is also known for some pretty massive malls, and depending on the ranking criteria, India’s biggest mall is typically a competition between the Mall of India, Phoenix Market City, and the Lulu International Shopping Mall. Lulu international topped many lists for the title of the biggest mall in India 2017. Many of these malls offer hundreds of stores, restaurants, movie theaters and a long list of attractions to entice people to visit, so you see, it takes much more than just shopping to be so large. For a past list of biggest malls, check out this list of the 15 Biggest Malls in the World in 2015.
As the title suggests, we are looking for the biggest malls in the world in 2017, and by big, we mean shopping malls with the biggest GLA (gross leasable area) at their disposal. GLA represents the amount of floor space available to be rented in a commercial property. By definition, a mall will have a greater area than just GLA; you could ask why did we not go with that instead. The thing is, from the perspective of a shopper rampaging through a mall, blank or decorative spaces mean next to nothing, they want to visit as many shops as possible and find the best deals available. This is why we went with the gross leasable area, the more GLA a shopping mall has, theoretically, the more shops there are to explore.
When it comes to ranking the shopping malls, it was pretty straightforward. We ranked the shopping malls on our list based on their GLA. Of course, visiting each mall and getting accurate measurements was not an option for us. Therefore, we sought help from several reliable online sources for our research work, like the Emporis, Regio Data and the International Council of Shopping Centers. We also put Google’s trusty search engine through its paces as well.
Now with all that said and done, let’s get our list of 26 biggest malls in the world in 2017 started.
26. Berjaya Times Square
Available GLA: 320,000 square meters
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The first shopping mall in our list is Berjaya Times Square. It is the third largest shopping mall in Malaysia, but it is definitely the largest shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. This is one of the must-see places if you are planning a trip to Kuala Lumpur.
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25. Gandaria City
Available GLA: 336,279 square meters
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Shopping malls are traditionally known to offer a one-stop shopping solution for even the most avid shoppers. But Gandaria City takes it one step further. They position themselves as a one-stop lifestyle hub. From a luxury 5-star hotel to the most exquisite jewelry, you will find everything there.
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24. Lucky One Mall
Available GLA: 340,000 square meters
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
This is by far the largest mall in Pakistan (and also South Asia) based on gross leasable area. Millions of people visit the place every year for its attractive prices and high-end shops. If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Karachi, don’t forget to pay Lucky One Mall a visit.
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23. The Dubai Mall
Available GLA: 350,000 square meters
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Everything is just bigger in Dubai, so it’s no surprise its mall lands a spot on our list of biggest malls in the world in 2017. The Dubai Mall is one of the prime examples of why we went with the gross available area and not the total area of the mall. Dubai mall is one of the largest malls in the world in terms of total area, which is roughly 1,124,000 square meters. However, as you can see the GLA of Dubai Mall is merely 350,000 square meters.
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22. West Edmonton Mall
Available GLA: 350,000 square meters
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Here we have the largest shopping mall of North America. Yes, we are indeed talking about both the United States and Canada combined. If you wish to shop at world’s twenty-second largest shopping mall, you just have to go a little to the North of the U.S.
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21. The Avenues Mall
Available GLA: 357,000 square meters
Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait
The Avenues Mall definitely deserves its spot among the biggest malls in the world in 2017. It has constantly been evolving since its opening in 2007, and the process is still ongoing after almost 10 years of operation. It is one of the largest shopping malls in Kuwait and attracts millions of visitors each year.
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20. Mal Taman Anggrek
Available GLA: 360,000 square meters
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Mal Taman Anggrek is the second largest shopping mall in Indonesia. “Mal Taman Anggrek” literally means Orchid Garden Mall, and it has been named as such because there used to be an orchid garden where the mall stands now. However, the mall is famous for all the high-end brand shops, really competitive prices, and frequent sales and raffles.
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19. Albrook Mall
Available GLA: 380,000 square meters
Location: Panama City, Panama
This is the second shopping mall from the Americas, but as you can see this one is from a bit further south than the previous one. Unfortunately, this will be the last mall to make a list of biggest malls in the world in 2017 from the continent of North America.
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18. Lotte World Mall
Available GLA: 383,470 square meters
Location: Seoul, South Korea
The Lotte World Mall markets itself as a landmark of Korea, and rightly so. It is the largest shopping mall in South Korea. The shopping mall is a hub of activity throughout the week, and many of the shoppers are tourists.
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17. Festival Alabang
Available GLA: 388,600 square meters
Location: Muntinlupa, Philippines
Festival Alabang is one of the longest-running shopping malls to make it on our list, as it was first opened for business back in 1998. The mall offers some crazy rides, like a miniature railway, a roller coaster and also a Ferris wheel, all which are indoors. It may be on the 17th spot on this list, but it ranks way higher as far as the coolest shopping malls of the world.
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16. Sunway Pyramid
Available GLA: 396,000 square meters
Location: Subang Jaya, Malaysia
You can probably guess from the name of this shopping mall, that it is going to be pyramid themed. Well, whether a pyramid shape helps to attract customers or not we cannot really tell for sure, but what we do know is that Sunway Pyramid is one of the biggest malls in the world in 2017 and the second largest shopping mall in Malaysia, as it is visited by millions each year.
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15. Dream Mall
Available GLA: 400,000 square meters
Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Let’s just start by saying that you cannot visit all the shops in Dream Mall in a single day. There are over 2,300 stores spread across 400,000 square meters of gross leasable area. Theoretically, if you spend just one minute per shop, not counting the time it would take you to traverse the 400,000 square meters, it would still take you about 40 hours.
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14. New Century Global Center
Available GLA: 400,000 square meters
Location: Chengdu, China
This is the first Chinese shopping mall to appear in our list of biggest malls in the world in 2017, but get used to it because you will see a quite a few of shopping malls from the region or near it. New Century Global Center is the largest shopping mall in the world by total area, however as you can see so far, a mere 400,000 square meters are available for stores and vendors. This is why we had to rank New Century Global Center so low in the list.
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13. intu MetroCentre
Available GLA: 400,000 square meters
Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Gateshead), United Kingdom
We are halfway through our list of 26 biggest malls in the world in 2017, and at number 13, we have intu MetroCentre, the oldest operating shopping mall to make into this list. intu MetroCentre is the largest shopping mall in the United Kingdom, as well as the largest shopping mall in all of Europe.
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12. Siam Paragon
Available GLA: 400,000 square meters
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
One of Thailand’s thriving industries is tourism, and Siam Paragon has been built with exactly that in mind. It is one of the most tourist-friendly shopping malls you will ever come across, however, for the native people Siam Paragon is also a great destination for a casual day of shopping.
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11. SM Mall of Asia
Available GLA: 406,962 square meters
Location: Pasay City, Philippine
If you are reading this article in 2018, it is possible that SM Mall of Asia has already become the world’s largest shopping mall. By the time of writing this article, massive construction work was underway and nearing the end of this renovation, SM Mall of Asia’s overall GLA is supposed to increase by 250,000 to 300,000 square meters, which would definitely put it at the very top.
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10. Isfahan City Center
Available GLA: 425,000 square meters
Location: Isfahan Province, Iran
At number ten ou our list of biggest malls in the world in 2017 we have Isfahan City Center that is Iran’s take on a multi-purpose, one-stop activity center. The establishment has a lot to offer, from shopping to cinemas, to a 5-start hotel fine dining. If you have the money for it, you can enjoy it all at Isfahan City Center at your convenience.
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9. Central World
Available GLA: 429,500 square meters
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
The Central World mall occupies a massive area about 1,024,000 square meters and includes two skyscrapers. However, we could not rank Central World any higher due to lack of gross leasable area. It beats our previous entrant by about 4,500 square meters, but with the scales, we are talking about, there 4,500 meters that are considered marginal.
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8. Persian Gulf Complex
Available GLA: 450,000 square meters
Location: Shiraz, Iran
At this point in the list of 26 biggest malls in the world in 2017, we have the Persian Gulf Complex. As you can see, judging by the gross leasable area, the Persian Gulf Complex is already pretty impressive, but it gets even better if you consider the number of shops. Persian Gulf Complex is one of the largest in the world in terms of a number of shops it houses. It has over 2,500 stores and counting.
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7. 1 Utama
Available GLA: 465,000 square meters
Location: Selangor, Malaysia
At number 7, we have the largest shopping mall in Malaysia, the 1 Utama. With a total gross leasable area of 465,000 square meters, no other shopping mall in the country comes even close to 1 Utama. It is truly a great experience to visit 1 Utama in person, and no article could do it justice, you have to visit 1 Utama to comprehend the sheer scale of it.
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6. SM Seaside City Cebu
Available GLA: 470,490 square meters
Location: Cebu, Philippines
SM Seaside City Cebu is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines outside the metro area of Manila. You can probably tell by looking at the name; this mall is also owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings; therefore, you can expect the same environment and pretty much the same quality overall. However, this certainly is not the last time you are seeing the name SM Prime Holdings being discussed.Pixabay
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5. SM Megamall
Available GLA: 474,000 square meters
Location: Mandaluyong, Philippines
Again another project of SM Prime holdings, but this time hailing from the beautiful city of Mandaluyong. It is the second largest shopping mall in the Philippines, and this place is visited by millions of people every year. It is a bustling hub of activity, and no matter what you are looking for, you will find it in SM Megamall.
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4. SM City North EDSA
Available GLA: 498,000 square meters
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
This is by far the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and also in South East Asia. SM City North EDSA boasts an incredible gross leasable area of about 498,000 square meters. This shopping mall drives a crazy amount of traffic each day; some estimates say it even gets up to a million as far as foot traffic each day.
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3. Golden Resources Mall
Available GLA: 557,419 square meters
Location: Beijing, China
We are now venturing into the top three on our list of biggest malls in the world in 2017, and at the third position, we have the Golden Resources Mall with an estimated gross leasable area of 557,419 square meters. It beats our previous entrant by a landslide. It has over a thousand shops, and several eateries and all the amenities that a modern shopper looks for in a high-end shopping mall.
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2. SM Tianjin
Available GLA: 565,000 square meters
Location: Tianjin, China
SM Tianjin is the second biggest shopping mall by gross leasable area in the entire world, and it is also the second largest shopping mall in China. That’s a bit of a spoiler because now you can tell that the biggest shopping mall in the whole world has to be from China as well. Even though SM Tianjin is located in China, it is owned by the SM Prime Holdings an organization out of the Philippines.
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1. South China Mall
Available GLA: 659,612 square meters
Location: Dongguan, China
It is now time for the big reveal, and as you can see, the biggest mall in the whole world in terms of gross leasable area is South China Mall. Unfortunately, the mall has seen better days. It has basically been struggling to maintain its existence due to various reasons, but things might be looking up for them. Although the mall has the highest GLA of any other mall in the world, but hardly a small fraction has been used for much of its existence.
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This wraps it up for our list of 26 biggest malls in the world in 2017. Happy shopping!
