World's 10 largest shopping malls

Malls have become an inevitable part of the retail boom all over the world.

Besides shopping, many malls offer the best entertainment and dining avenues to make shopping an enjoyable experience.

For the record, four of the malls among the top 10 are in China.

Click NEXT to find out the 10 biggest malls in terms of gross leasable area. . .

1. South China Mall

Located in Dongguan, this mall has leasable space for over 1,500 stores in approximately 6.5 million square-feet of total floor area.

It has seven zones modelled on: Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean, and California.

Although the mall opened in 2005, it still suffers from lack of retailers. Much of the retail space remains empty.

Analysts say that the main reason the mall is so far largely unoccupied is that it is located in the suburbs of Dongguan, which is not well connected by China's public transport system.

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2. Golden Resources Shopping Mall, Beijing

Located near the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, China, the Great Mall of China has a total area of 7.3 million square feet (680,000 square metres) spread over six floors.

It is 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America.

It was completed on October 20, 2004 after 20 months of construction.

Image: Golden Resources Shopping Mall.

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3. The SM Mall of Asia, Philippines

Also known as MOA, this is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines. Spread over an area of 407,101 square metres, the mall opened on May 21, 2006.

The mall is owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, under the management of Henry Sy, a Chinese-Filipino business tycoon.

One of the mall's main attractions is the first ever IMAX theatre in the country.

The mall features the Philippines's first Olympic-size (61 by 30 metres) ice skating rink. Image: One of the entrances to the SM Mall of Asia.

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4. Cevahir, Istanbul

Opened on October 15, 2005, it is a modern shopping and entertainment centre located in the Sisli district of Istanbul, Turkey.

Spread over an area of 348,000 square metres, Cevahir Mall is the largest shopping centre in Europe, and the seventh largest in the world.

The project, originally a trade complex, including retail centres and three skyscrapers with 40 and 48 floors to replace one of the city's old bus depots, was designed in 1987 by American architects Minoru Yamasaki & Associates.

The foundation stone was laid in 1997; however, it took eight years to complete only the shopping section due to numerous delays.

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5. West Edmonton Mall, Canada

West Edmonton Mall, in Canada, is the largest shopping mall in North America, well over 6 million sq ft.

It was the world's largest mall for two decades from 1981 till 2004.

The mall receives 28.2 million visitors per year.

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6. SM Megamall, Philippines

SM Mall was opened in 1991 and has an area of about 3.6 million sq foot.

Fun stuff includes bowling, ice skating and a 12-cinema movie theater, along with traditional mall fare like arcade games.

Customers can also get a haircut or see a doctor at the Manila clinic.

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7. Berjaya Times Square, Malaysia

Berjaya Times Square KL is tagged as the 'world's largest building ever built in a single phase', with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 square metre) of built up floor area.

The mall within is spread over an area of 320,000 square metres.

Currently, the mall has space for more than 1,000 retail shops, 1200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets and other attractions like Asia's largest indoor theme park, Cosmo's World and Malaysia's first-ever IMAX 2D & 3D theatre.

The Kuala Lumpur Monorail's Imbi station is linked to the building by a footbridge.

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8. Beijing Mall, China

Beijing Mall is one among the top 10 luxurious malls in Beijing.

This centre has four levels with parking for 8,000 cars, plus a man-made beach. Bootlegged DVDs of American movies are a top seller.

It was opened in 2005 and has an area of 3.4 million sq foot.

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9. Zhengjia Plaza, China

The mall draws over half a million shoppers on a good business day.

Another mixed-use space, the mall has a hotel and office tower in addition to retail stores.

It has an area of 2 million sq foot.

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10. SM City North EDSA, Philippines

This is one of the biggest and first shopping malls in the Philippines and one of the biggest shopping malls in the world spread over an area of 331,861 square metres.

This is the first major shopping complex established by Henry Sy and his company SM Prime Holdings, the largest retail corporation in the country.

Since its establishment in 1983, it has done several major expansions and renovations, and features a bowling alley, food court, garden, entertainment centre and 12-theatres.