Although places intended for shopping have existed since ancient times (such as Trajan's Market in Rome, built in the 2nd century), these places have evolved a lot and no longer only house shops, but also large areas for food, leisure and entertainment.
Asia has perhaps been the continent that has been most concerned with building the most modern and ostentatious shopping centers where people can, in addition to shopping, have a good time of fun in modern movie theaters, fast food restaurants or amusement parks .
Here are the largest shopping centers in the world.
1. Siam Paragon - Thailand
Located in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok, it covers 8.3 hectares and was inaugurated in December 2005.
It is one of the largest in the country and has 10 floors, including the basement. It houses a variety of shops, restaurants and parking for 100,000 cars.
This mall is not limited to being a shopping site, it also offers entertainment for all tastes through its movie theaters, aquarium, bowling alley, karaoke, a concert hall and art gallery.
2. Berjaya Times Square - Kuala Lumpur
It is housed in the fifth largest building in the world and is part of the Berjaya Times Square twin tower complex, which houses the shopping center and two 5-star hotels in an area of 700,000 square meters of construction.
The complex has more than 1000 shops, 65 food establishments and its main attraction is the largest indoor theme park in Asia: Cosmo’s World, which has a roller coaster.
It also features Malaysia's first 2D and 3D Imax screen cinema and is located on the 10th floor of this huge shopping center.
3. Istanbul Cevahir - Turkey
It is located in the European part of what was the old Constantinople (now Istanbul).
It was inaugurated in 2005 and is the largest in Europe: it has 343 stores, 34 fast food establishments and 14 exclusive restaurants.
It also offers various entertainment options such as a small roller coaster, bowling alley, event stage, 12 movie theaters and more.
4. SM Megamall - Philippines
This huge shopping center opened its doors in 1991 and covers an area of approximately 38 hectares. It receives 800,000 people daily, although it has the capacity to house 4 million.
It is divided into two towers connected by a bridge that has several restaurants. In Tower A there is a cinema, bowling alley and fast food area. In Tower B are the commercial establishments.
The SM Megamall is under constant renovation and construction for expansion, but once completed it will be able to hold the title of the largest mall in the Philippines.
5. West Edmonton Mall - Canada
In the province of Alberta is this huge shopping center with almost 40 hectares of construction, which from 1981 to 2004 was the largest in the world; it is currently the largest in North America.
It houses 2 hotels, more than 100 food establishments, 800 stores and the largest indoor water park and amusement park in the world; as well as an ice rink, 18-hole mini golf and movie theaters.
6. Dubai Mall
This mall is the tallest man-made structure in the world and houses one of the largest aquariums on Earth, at more than 12 million square feet equivalent to 50 football fields.
It has spacious pavilions with more than 1,200 stores of all kinds: the largest candy store in the world, an ice rink, a 3D bowling alley, 22 large screen movie theaters, 120 restaurants, 22 movie theaters and other entertainment options. entertainment.
7. SM Mall of Asia - Philippines
Its proximity to the bay gives a certain charm to this shopping center that is located in the city of Metro, in Manila. It was inaugurated in 2006 and covers an area of 39 hectares of construction.
They are two buildings connected by several streets with all kinds of shops, as well as restaurants and it has a 20-seater tram to transport visitors from one place to another.
It houses an Olympic ice rink for practicing figure skating, competitions or hockey on ice. It also has 3D Imax screen cinemas, which are among the largest in the world.
8. CentralWorld - Thailand
In a construction of 8 floors and almost 43 hectares, this shopping center opened in 1990 stands, designed mainly for the middle class and opposite to Siam Paragnon, which is aimed at the upper class of Bankgok.
Due to strong protests against the government, on May 19, 2010 this shopping center suffered a fire that lasted for two days, causing several establishments to collapse.
It is currently the largest shopping center in Southeast Asia and, since its reopening, 80% of its space has been used for shopping.
9. Golden Resources Mall - China
From 2004 to 2005 this shopping center, located in Beijing, was the largest in the world with 56 hectares of construction, 1.5 times more than the Mall of America, in the United States.
Although its investors initially calculated a capacity of 50,000 buyers per day, reality only allowed them to have 20 clients per hour.
This was due to the fact that the prices of the items were very high for consumers and the distance from the center of Beijing made access difficult, especially for tourists.
10. New South China Mall - China
It opened its doors in 2005 and based on the gross leasable area, this shopping center is the largest in the world with 62 hectares of construction.
It is located in the town of Dongguan and its architectural style was inspired by 7 cities in the world, as it has a replica of the Arc de Triomphe, canals with Gondolas similar to those in Venice and an indoor-outdoor roller coaster.
It is also known as the largest ghost shopping center in the world, due to the lack of customers, since almost all the commercial premises are empty and most of those that are occupied are those of western fast food that are in the entrance.
Now you know where you can make purchases or spend hours of fun during your visit in any of these countries and, if you already know one, tell us what you think!
