Shopping Centre Development  -

The Most Active Global Cities

 

Author: Neville Moss, Head of EMEA Retail Research

 

Contributors: Ronald Chan, Senior Manager Asia Research, Hong Kong and James Costello, Managing Director, Head of Research Investment Consulting, Americas

Global shopping centre development continues apace, with unprecedented levels of construction and new openings taking place. 7.8 million sq m of new space opened in 2011 and a further 29.6 million sq m is under construction–equivalent to all of the combined existing space in France, UK and Germany.

Emerging markets are far more active than mature ones. In 2011, new centres opened in 63 (35%) of the 180 cities covered in the survey, of which 50 were in emerging markets. In contrast, only five cites in Western Europe saw the development of a new centre last year.

Looking ahead, a similar theme is evident.  Half (50%) of all space under construction is in China, with Asia accounting for 70% of all schemes currently being built. The development market is also highly active in parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.  The shopping centre concept, once the preserve of the Western world, is becoming ubiquitous.

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Retailers seeking to grow their businesses in emerging markets have benefited significantly from the development of new centres, whilst redevelopment and extensions to existing schemes play an important part in attracting new international retailers to more mature markets. However, with retailers increasingly focused on accessing the best space in the top locations, demand for prime space continues to outstrip supply in most markets–even in China.