The Dubai Mall

The Dubai Mall

The shopping mall's interior
Location Downtown Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
Coordinates 25°11′51″N 55°16′45″E / 25.19750°N 55.27917°ECoordinates: 25°11′51″N 55°16′45″E / 25.19750°N 55.27917°E
Opening date 8 May 2009
Developer Emaar Properties
Management Emaar Malls Group
Owner Emaar Properties
Architect DP Architects Pte Ltd.
No. of stores and services 1,200+
No. of anchor tenants 2
Total retail floor area 502,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft)
No. of floors 4
Parking 14,000+
Website www.thedubaimall.com

The Dubai Mall is the world's largest shopping mall based on total area and fourteenth largest by gross leasable area.[1] Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), it is part of the 20-billion-dollar Downtown Dubai complex, and includes 1,200 shops.[2][3][4] Access to the mall is provided via Doha Street, rebuilt as a double-decker road in April 2009.[5]

Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on 8 May 2009, with about 635 retailers, marking the world's largest-ever mall opening in retail history. However it is not the largest in gross leasable space, and is surpassed in that category by several malls including the South China Mall, which is the world's largest, Golden Resources Mall, SM City North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.

The Dubai Mall recorded 60,000 tickets sold for the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre in the first five days, following its opening.[6] The Dubai Mall hosted over 37 million visitors in 2009,[7][8] and attracts more than 750,000 visitors every week.[9] while in 2010 it hosted 47 million, and saw footfall increase by around 27 percent over 2009, despite the economic crisis.[10] In 2012, Dubai Mall continued to hold title of world's most-visited shopping and leisure destination, and attracted more than 65 million visitors, an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the 54 million recorded in 2011. It attracted more visitors than New York City with over 52 million tourists in 2012, and Los Angeles with 41 million.[11][12] The numbers also surpass visitor arrivals to all landmark leisure destinations and theme parks in the world including Times Square (39.2 million), Central Park (38 million), and Niagara Falls (22.5 million).[13]

Description

Outside Dubai Mall near the Fountain.

Over 13 million square foot (equivalent in size to more than 50 football fields), the Dubai Mall has a total internal floor area of 5.9 million square feet (55 ha) and leasable space of 3.77 million square feet (35 ha), about the same as the West Edmonton Mall.[14]

It also has a 250-room luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens plus 120 restaurants and cafes. The Mall has over 14,000 parking spaces across 3 car parks, with valet services and a car locator ticketing system.[15] The mall has won five awards - two awards at the Retail Future Project Awards at Mapic, Cannes, in 2004, for Best Retail Development Scheme (Large) and Best Use of Lighting in a Retail Environment[16] and the Dubai Mall brochure collected three awards at the Summit Creative Awards 2005 in Portland, Oregon - the Gold award for Best Art Direction / Graphic Design, Silver award for Best 4-colour B2B Brochure, and a Judges Special Recognition award.[16]

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo

Dubai Aquarium and Under Water Zoo
The shark tunnel of Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo

The Mall's Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre, developed and operated by Oceanis Australia Group, having one of the world's largest Acrylic Panel" (32.88 m wide × 8.3 m high × 750 mm thick and weighing 245,614 kg).[17] The acrylic viewing panel is larger than Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (22.5 m wide × 8.2 m high and 600 mm thick), smaller than Singapore's S.E.A Aquarium (36 m wide × 8.3 m high) and China's Chime-Long Ocean Kingdom (39.6 m wide × 8.3 m high). Its 750 mm thick acrylic viewing panel can withstand pressure of 10 million litres of water used in the aquarium, but its transparency gives visitors clear views of over 33,000 marine animals on display.[8] In February 2010, a leak in the aquarium caused a partial evacuation and brief shutdown of a portion of the mall.[8]

The Mall adopted an International Standard of Ethics and Animal Welfare Policy in its development and operation.[18][19][20]

Dubai Ice Rink

Ice Rink inside Dubai Mall.

The Mall's Dubai Ice Rink multi-purpose venue, uses refrigeration plant technology by developing 1.5 inches (38 mm) of ice bed, 2 times the thickness of an NHL ice rink for Olympic-sized attraction. Dubai Ice Rink can host a capacity of up to 2,000 guests, when converted into a multi-functional hall with a multimedia system including a 20 m × 10 m LED screen.

SEGA Republic

SEGA Republic, a 76,000 sq ft (7,100 m2) indoor theme park, was opened on 21 August 2009. Visitors can enjoy over 150 amusement games; It is a park that is mainly dedicated to SEGA's video game icon Sonic the Hedgehog. The entrance to Sega Republic is located on the second floor of The Dubai Mall.[21][22]

Shops

The Dubai Mall contains more than 1,200 shops.

In October 2009 it was reported that the world's largest candy store opened in Dubai Mall.[23]

Construction

The mall was built by a joint venture of Dutco Balfour Beatty, Al Ghandi/CCC[24] and Turner Construction for Emaar Properties and was scheduled to be completed in 2006, claiming to be the size of 50 "international-sized football (soccer) pitches". Most of the workers used in construction of the mall were Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan guest workers.

World records and achievements

Dubai Mall near the Fountain at Dusk.

Incident

Photo Gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ Collin Anderson (2012). Evolution of a Retail Streetscape: DP Architects on Orchard Road. Images Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-86470-462-4.
  2. ↑ "The Dubai Mall". Emaar.com. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  3. ↑ "Dubai Mall: A milestone harks back to humble origins". Gulfnews.com. 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  4. ↑ Lonsway, Brian. "Mall: Very Large. Center of Now. Fast." In The Dubai Mall. Singapore: DP Architects 2012.
  5. ↑ Ahmed, Ashfaq (19 April 2009). "Double-decker roads will be open by month's end". Gulf News. p. 2. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  6. ↑ Dubai Mall visitors hit 60,000 | 2008 | AMEinfo.com
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Dubai Mall crosses landmark 30 million visitors". The Dubai Mall. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Stefania Bianchi (25 February 2010). "Leak at Dubai Mall Aquarium Forces Evacuation". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Emaar's Dubai Mall posts 27% rise in footfall in 2010 - Retail". ArabianBusiness.com. 2011-04-24. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Dubai Mall sees 65 million visitors in 2012". Ttgmena.com. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Dubai Mall claims world visitors record". The National. 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  14. ↑ "Dubai Mall set for August 28 opening". GulfNews.com. April 9, 2008. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  15. ↑ "The Dubai Mall opens with 600 retailers". Tradearabia.com. 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Dubai Mall, Emaar, retrieved 12 March 2006
  17. ↑ "10 Interesting Facts About Dubai Mall Aquarium". blog.raynatours.com.
  18. ↑ ameinfo.com, Dubai Mall aquarium breaks world record
  19. ↑ www.albawaba.com, Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre Sets Guinness Record for 'World's Largest Acrylic Panel' at The Dubai Mall
  20. ↑ "zawya.com, Aquarium at The Dubai Mall scoops world record". Zawya.com. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  21. ↑ "SEGA Republic". The Dubai Mall. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  22. ↑ Sega Republic indoor theme park opens its gates at The Dubai Mall | Malls.com
  23. ↑ World's largest candy store opens in Dubai.
  24. ↑ "Burj Dubai Mall". Balfour Beatty Website. 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Top 10 construction world record holders". ConstructionWeekOnline.com. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  26. ↑ "Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre sets Guinness Record for the ‘World’s Largest Acrylic Panel’ at The Dubai Mall". The Dubai Mall. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  27. ↑ "Inactive". Blog.dubaidreams.net. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  28. ↑ "World's biggest sweet shop opens in Dubai - Odd News". newslite.tv. 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  29. ↑ "Dubai Mall smashes record with 5 million visitors". Hotelier Middle East. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  30. ↑ "Dubai Mall named best shopping experience - Retail". ArabianBusiness.com. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  31. ↑ "Aquarium leak hits Dubai Mall". Gulfnews.com. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  32. ↑ http://www.thenational.ae/uae/police-resolve-workers-protest-in-downtown-dubai

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dubai Mall.