Communist or former communist states are proving the hungriest when it comes to developing western-style shopping malls — with China leading the pack with almost 19 million sq ft of retail space under construction.
According to the international real estate company CBRE there is now 39 million sq ft of new commercial shopping centres being built in 180 countries around the world, an increase of 32 million sq ft on last year’s figures.
Chen Zhongwei,director of CBRE China, claims that rapid urbanisation and the continued rise of the country’s middle classes are fueling China’s demand for the development of modern shopping centres. But it’s a bubble, some analysts warn, that is almost certain to burst.
One recent report from Rui Yide China Commercial Real Estate Research Centre even suggested that as many as 10 per cent of all new retail complexes are likely to close. It also alleged that of all the new sites currently under way only 30 per cent offered first class facilities.
Not surprisingly, four Chinese cities topped the world list with Shanghai coming first with 35.5 million sq ft under construction. A figure, CBRE points out, that this is more than the combined total of all 86 European cities — excluding those in Russia and Turkey — that it looked at.
Completing the top ten were Chengdu building 34.4 million sq ft, Shenzhen with 29 million sq ft, and Tianjin with 27 million sq ft. These were followed by Istanbul, Wuhan, Moscow, Beijing, Nanjing and Guangzhou.
In Europe, Russian and Turkish cities once again dominate new retail construction. In Istanbul, 27 centres with a total of 20 million sq ft are in the works. Moscow has 16 million sq ft.
The CBRE study also claims that of the 35 new shopping complexes opened in Europe last year, 26 are located in Eastern Europe, four in Central Europe, and five in Western Europe. “Even though new construction in Western Europe is at an historic low, some shopping centres are pursuing expansion plans in response to the demand from leading brands seeking new locations,” it adds.
In Southeast Asia, the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the 3.5 million sq ft under construction. And in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi strengthened its position as the regional leader with three shopping centres, totalling 1.8 million sq ft, completed in 2013. There are eight others, with a combined retail area of 8.3 millionsq ft, currently under way.
