Mall of the World Dubai

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Mall of the World in Dubai

Mall of the World in Dubai (MOTW, MOW), a planned shopping, entertainment, and mixed use city district along Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (previously was to be in the Al Sufouh district of Dubai), expected to be the largest shopping mall in the world when it opens. Announced in July 2014. It was to have (no longer as of 2016 plans) a number of pedestrian areas covered by retractable roofs, and a theme park covered by a dome in summer, which resulted in confusing reports that MOTW was planned as the largest (and first) indoor or covered temperature-controlled "domed city" in the world. Project timeline details and opening date not given, although later comments by the Dubai Holding CEO indicated the development would take 10 years to complete.

Another Mall of the World project was announced in Nov 2012 as part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City project (Meydan), but as of mid 2016 no further updates have been provided about the mall in MBR City. MBR City is a joint venture development by Dubai Holding and Emaar Properties. MBR City District One is a sub-development with villas in Phases 1-3 (out of 5) under construction from 2015-2017, launched by Meydan Sobha, a joint venture between Meydan Group and Sobha Developers. No information provided to confirm if District One will have a MOTW shopping mall.

	MOTW, Dubai	MOTW MBR	MOE, Dubai	The Dubai Mall	Deira Islands Mall
Area¹	8m sq ft		6.5m sq ft	12m sq ft	6.7m sq ft
GLA²				3.8m sq ft
Developer	Dubai Holding		Al Futtaim	Emaar Properties	Nakheel
Opening date			Nov 2005	Nov 2008
Location	MBZ Rd	MBR City, Meydan	Al Barsha	Downtown Dubai

Shopping mall area. Total MOTW Dubai project area 48m sq ft (or 80m sq ft, both figures reported but 48m seems to be the most recent one).
Gross Leasable Area (GLA).

Mall of the World districts and facilities

Dubai Cultural District - with theater area to compete with Broadway in New York and the Westend in London, a cinema art school.
Dubai Event District
Hospitality District
Integrated Pedestrian City
Wellness District - Chelsea Clinic in one supplied image.

Mall of the World location

[Update 31 Aug 2016] Dubai Holding announced MOTW site would be relocated to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Rd. Exact location not given.
Location of MOTW Dubai is was to be on Sheikh Zayed Rd in Al Sufouh district, across from Mall of the Emirates. Area is currently occupied by dusty abandoned cars, the Dubai Police College (will move to Dubai Academic City), and the Dubai Tram depot.
There was also a "Mall of the World" announced in Nov 2012 as part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid City project, another development in Dubai, but in a different location to the MOTW city project announced in July 2014.

Mall of the World timeline and history

04 Sep 2016: A new development called Jumeirah Central was announced, to be located at the Al Sufouh site previously for the MOTW project. So much for the idea that the MOTW project was relocated to avoid potential traffic jams in the area.
31 Aug 2016: MOTW site relocation announcement: "Ahmad Bin Byat, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Dubai Holding, today announced that Dubai Holding has taken the decision to relocate Mall of the World to a site on Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Road where the project's positive tourism contribution can be fully realised." There was speculation that the project was relocated because the infrastructure in the Al Sufouh area would not support the expected increase in traffic.
25 May 2016: News reports that the design work for phase one of the MOTW project has started, and construction will begin in 2017. Project value AED 25 or 30 billion (both figures reported for Phase 1), construction to take 15 years in four phases (some reports said two phases, presumably referring to previous information from Dec 2015).
09 Feb 2016: Gulf News report of comments by Ahmed Bin Byat, head of Dubai Holding, that MOTW construction will start in 2017, and be completed in four phases with Phase 1 completion expected by 2020 and project value of AED 30 billion. Total MOTW project value AED 80 billion. The project will include 100 hotels.
10 Jan 2016: Bloomberg reported comments by MOTW COO, Morgan Parker, that the MOTW plans had been redeveloped with 3 smaller shopping malls instead of one large mall, and removal of air-conditioned pedestrian areas. He also said to avoid "the biggest traffic jam in the history of the world" that the development would have 22 access points from 4 roads in the surrounding area.
08 Dec 2015: Progress report, and Morgan Parker announced as COO of MOTW (PR - "Dubai Holding appoints Chief Operating Officer of Mall of the World" and "Dubai Holding reveals progress on Mall of the World"). Figures given in press release include:
- Land area 1.7 million square metres, project "will be built in two phases".
- Project master plan includes: network of 33 roads and 152,500 sq m of pedestrian walkways and areas; other transport modes to include bicycle paths, bus, metro, and tram routes, and gondolas.
- Mixed-use development with 5 components: Retail, Residential, Office, Hospitality, and Entertainment; with a total of 278 buildings, and "the world's largest retail network" of 3,525,000 sq m [unclear, might be total building area].
- MOTW intended to be the "first year-round pedestrian city in the region" by including "shaded parks, sidewalks, temperature controlled arcades, mall and bridges in short distances in order to provide maximum comfort to pedestrians".
Video of the project released by Dubai Holding shows pedestrian walkways with retractable roofs (similar to the one at Dubai Mall, but bigger).
21 Sep 2014: In a report about MBR District 11, The National said that the MBR City MOTW project had been taken over by Dubai Properties (not Dubai Holding?): "However, since then the task of building the Mall of the World has been passed to the government conglomerate Dubai Properties and located on land it owns off the Sheikh Zayed Road."
05 Jul 2014: New MOTW development along SZR announced, with the largest shopping mall (or shopping area) in the world. Figures and statements from press release include:
- "... the world's first temperature-controlled city ... the project will comprise the largest indoor theme park in the world, which will be covered by a glass dome that will be open during the winter months."
- Total area 48 million sq ft. Shopping area 8 million sq ft, built as "an extended retail street network", rather than a single building shopping mall.
- 20,000 hotel rooms available, MOTW City expected to have 180 million visitors annually.
- Wellness District, area 3 million sq ft.
24-26 Nov 2012 (news reports), MBR City project figures:
- JV between Emaar Properties and Dubai Holding, location between Sheikh Zayed Rd, Emirates Rd (renamed as MBZ Rd), and Al Khail Road.
- MOTW shopping mall capacity 80 million visitors per year. The mall will surround a park with an area 30% larger than Hyde Park in London (455 hectares?), capacity 30-35 million visitors per year. The mall and park area will also have 100 hotels (?).
- MOTW connected to a Universal Studios theme park, with about 6 million visitors annually.
- Cultural Crossing art gallery area (largest in MENA region) connecting MBR City with Downtown Dubai and Business Bay.
- Golf courses also in the development, branded with international names (actual names not given).
24 Nov 2012: First MOTW project in MBR City announced. Unclear if related to the subsequent MOTW project announced in 2014.

Mall of the World announcement 05 July 2014

MOTW is not just a shopping mall, it will include theme park, retail shopping areas, hotels, and other tourist facilities. Announcement said it would be the world's first temperature-controlled city with promenades and walkways covered in the summer.

Total area of development 48 million square feet, includes the new Dubai Cultural District with theatres, a dedicated zone for medical tourists, an indoor/outdoor theme park, shopping mall with total area of 8 million sq feet, promenades with restaurants and cafes, hotels and other tourist accommodation.
Timeline, construction start date, planned opening date, not provided but announcement implied it would be ready before the Dubai World Expo in 2020. Update 07 Jul 2014 ... or possibly by 2025 but that's a guess, not a planned date.
Largest indoor theme park in the world (when the lid is closed), covered by a glass dome which would be open in winter and closed in summer to keep out the heat. Some reports got the mall and theme park mixed up, saying the mall or the entire project would be covered by a glass dome (it's not, the theme park is).
[PR or reports? 100 hotels figure not in PR?] 100 hotels and serviced apartment buildings planned with a total of 20,000 rooms. Shopping mall connected directly to 25 hotels, other 75 hotels connected by airconditioned walkways.
Retail district with 7km of street level shopping outlets.
Annual visitor numbers estimated at 180 million.
Car parking for 50,000 vehicles at ground level.
Celebration Walk - walkway between cultural district and shopping mall, modelled on La Ramblas in Barcelona.
Tram network throughout the development.
Wellness Zone - medical and healthcare district, area 3 million sq feet.

Other information

Project cost estimated at AED 25 billion (US$6.8bn) according to Dubai Holding CEO, Ahmad Bin Byat (Reuters, 07 Jul 2014, "Dubai Holding chief says $6.8bn needed to build new mega-mall", article link not found on reuters.com).
Timeline approximately 10 years from start to completion, planned start date not reported (Reuters, 07 Jul 2014).

Other Malls of the World references

[Update]

Mall of the World in Canada (West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta)
Mall of the World in Cebu, Philippines (SM Seaside City)
Mall of the World in Guangzhou, China
Mall of the World in Minnesota, USA (Mall of America)
*The Mall of the World, Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong

Largest shopping malls in Dubai, the UAE, the world ...

[Update]

Mall of Arabia
*New South China Mall, Dongguan, China - 9.6 million sq feet, mostly unused, 1,500 stores planned?
The Dubai Mall

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-lUp9sUFZw - Dubai Holding video of proposed Mall of the World.
[n/a] http://malloftheworld.ae/press-releases/progress-on-motw/ - Dubai Holding MOTW press release 08 Dec 2015.
[n/a] http://www.dubaiholding.com/media-centre/press-releases/2014/407-mohammed-bin-rashid-launches-mall-of-the-world-a-temperature-controlled-pedestrian-city-in-dubai - Dubai Holding MOTW press release 05 July 2014.
[n/a] http://www.dubaiholding.com/en/media-hub/press-releases/mohammed-bin-rashid-launches-mall-world-temperature-controlled-pedestrian-city-dubai/ - same PR.
http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395267427436.html - press release on WAM website.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/government/2012/November/government_November64.xml&section=government - 24 Nov 2012 announcement of MBR City and Mall of the World, WAM report on KT website (not available on WAM website but still visible in Google cache ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_the_World
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1565313 - MBR City, topic started 24 Nov 2012.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1736950 - MOTW Al Sufouh, topic started 06 Jul 2014.

Last update Thursday 22-Sep-2016. Page development 1H 2T 3D 4L 5C.

Pages under development

Related websites (new window)

www.malloftheworld.ae appears to be official website for the project, no information except for relocation announcement when checked (Sep 2016). Previously had some information about the project.
www.malloftheworld.com is unavailable or unrelated to MOTW in Dubai.
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