Dubai Unveils Plans for World's Largest Mall

Being home to one of the world's largest malls is apparently not enough for the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, even just five years after Dubai was crippled by a massive debt crisis. The nation’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, says his planned Mall of the World will, at 8 million square feet, be twice as large as Minnesota's Mall of America, and include a theme park covered in the summer, 100 hotels and apartments, and yes, an entire street network that is climate-controlled. This is, after all, the desert.

Dubai is expecting a surge in visitors when it hosts the World Expo in 2020, reports Al Jazeera, which authorities say will cost $8.4 billion to organize but generate $23 billion. The mall should accommodate 180 million visitors a year—more than four times the current record-holder, the Las Vegas Strip, which pulls in 40 million visitors a year. The project is the world’s first “temperature-controlled (pedestrian) city," covering 48 million square feet, according to Gulf News. Though the announcement indicated that construction is imminent, it didn't include a timeline or cost, adds Reuters. (Click to read about China's plans for the world's tallest tower, rising a kilometer into the sky.)