1Utama among biggest malls in the world

February 27, 2014

Mid Valley and Sunway Pyramid also make it to list of top 10 biggest shopping destinations in the world.

By: Caitlyn Ng

You would know the sales season is fast approaching when you suddenly notice hoards of shoppers diligently going through each rack and shelf of each shop in any shopping mall. With so many located in Malaysia, tourists love flocking to our beloved country not only for the food and the culture, but also for the chance to shop till one drops! These malls aren’t just your ordinary small lots that sell grocery items and hold one or two eateries, nope. These are mega structures, stretching for thousands of square metres, and containing everything that anyone could possibly ever need, and more.

Did you know though, that in the list of the top 10, three of the malls are in Malaysia? Indeed, this SaveMoney.my writer is proud that one of them is literally on her doorstep; which one it is though, is only for her to know!

5) Persian Gulf Complex (RM2.7 billion, 450,000 square metres)


Also known as the “Fars Shopping Complex”, the Persian Gulf Complex is located on a piece of land about 500,000 square metres in the vicinity of Shiraz, Iran and was developed by the Royal Star International. This company is also in charge of the development of a string of other shopping malls such as the Yazd Star, Qeshm Star and South Star Emporium. The construction of the Persian Gulf Complex was started in 2006 and completed 5 years later in 2011 and has a gross leasable area about 450,000 square metres space for 2,500 commercial units and a huge hypermarket that’s 12,000 square metres.

Other facilities that are provided within this mixed-facilities mall include outdoor and indoor amusement parks, the international hotel Burj-e Farswith with helipad, a convention centre and six cinema theatres. Costing approximately RM2.7 billion, this mall starts the list off. Rounding up this list would be the Central World (Thailand) in 6th place, the Isfahan City Centre (Iran) in 7th place, the Mid Valley Megamall (Malaysia) in 8th place, the Sunway Pyramid (Malaysia) in 9th place and finally, the SM Megamall (Philippines) in 10th place!

4) One Utama, Malaysia (RM249 million, 465,000 square metres)


Malaysia has made the list (didn’t I say we had?) and this is the highest spot that it has climbed to! The mall to grab this spot is none other than One Utama, the mall which has a tagline of “It’s All In One”. Indeed, one can expect to find everything they need and more in just one area (admittedly, that area is made up of 465,000 square metres of leasable space and the length of walking from one end to the other is almost 1 km). Asia’s largest indoor rock climbing facility and the Secret Garden, which is South East Asia’s largest rooftop garden, are both examples of what one might find here apart from the over 650 retail shops.

Opened in 1995, One Utama consists of two wings, dubbed “the old wing” and “the new wing”. The old wing had a cost of RM89 million, excluding the land cost and the developers pumped in an additional RM160 million to build up the new wing as well as expand the old wing to increase its rentable area.

3) SM City North EDSA, Philippines (RM150 million, 482,878 square metres)


Located in Metro Manila, the word “EDSA” in this mall’s name stands for “Epifanio de los Santos Avenue” which is an important arterial road and freeway in the Philippines. The SM City North Mall is located to the north side of the highway and has a total leasable space of 482,878 square metres; built on formerly swampy land, it was opened in 1985, with a few expansions and renovation.
It cost the developers approximately RM150 million to redevelop the mall into a greener complex with an overall trendy look to match today’s modern standards, although there isn’t a given total amount as to how much the mall initially cost back in 1985.

2) Golden Resources Mall, China (RM4.2 billion, 557,419 square metres)


Now here’s a shopping mall that doesn’t seem to be able to live up to its name! The Golden Resources Mall is also known as “The Great Mall of China” and was opened in 2004. For a short time, it held the record as the largest in the world with 557,419 square metres of leasable space and a cost of approximately RM4.2 billion. It is located in an area that is far from the usual enclave of foreign customers, due to it being outside the heart of Beijing.

With most of the stores located inside this mall not accepting foreign credit cards and also containing prestigious brands that are quite beyond the purchasing ability of the locals, it has led to the mall suffering low foot traffic.

1) New South China Mall, China (RM1.3 billion, 659,612 square metres)


New this mall certainly is, but profitable? Apparently not so much. Sitting on a total land area of 892,000 square metres with a total leasable space of 659,612 square metres, this mall tops the list as the largest in the world. However, with a bad location that is largely unreachable to the public due to it only being accessible via cars or buses, it doomed this mall to having most of its stores vacant (although that condition is slowly improving).

With space for 2,350 stores, and 7 zones modelled on international cities, nations and regions (Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean and California), it is by far also the most opulent with its scaled-down models such as the Arc de Triomphe of Paris and St. Mark’s Bell Tower of Venice. It is approximately RM1.3 billion in cost.

To top things off, here’s a list of the top 10 largest malls in the world:

Shopping Mall	Country	Size (Square metres)
1) New South China Mall	China	659,612
2) Golden Resources Mall	China	557,419
3) SM City North EDSA	Philippines	482,878
4) One Utama	Malaysia	465,000
5) Persian Gulf Complex	Iran	450,000
6) Central World	Thailand	429,500
7) Isfahan City Centre	Iran	425,000
8) Mid Valley Megamall	Malaysia	420,000
9) Sunway Pyramid	Malaysia	396,000
10) SM Megamall	Philippines	392,980

Caitlyn Ng is an Investigative Journalist of SaveMoney.my, an online consumer advice portal which aims to help Malaysians save money through smart (and most of the time painless) savings in their daily banking, technology, and lifestyle spending habits.