The World’s First Climate-Controlled City Is On the Way

A glimpse of the Mall of the World (images via Dubai Holding)

Dubai is a city of superlatives, so it is no surprise that the city will be home to a new project, the Mall of the World, that is being trumpeted as both the world’s largest mall and the world’s first climate-controlled city.

The project, developed by Dubai Properties, will feature 100 hotel and serviceable apartment buildings, 20,000 hotel rooms, a parking lot for 50,000 vehicles, a tram, and the world’s largest indoor theme park, all designed as a contained retail street network spanning 7 km (4.3 miles) in a 48-million square-foot project area (the mall itself will be 8-million square feet).

Once completed, the Mall of the World is expected to attract 180 million visitors annually, and it will have a cultural district comprised of theaters, reminiscent of New York’s Broadway, a Celebration Walk, fashioned after Barcelona’s the Ramblas Street, and shopping streets based on London’s Oxford Street. It was also have a “wellness district,” which will cater to medical tourists.

Dubai is already home to other record-breaking sites, including the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, the world’s only “7-star hotel,” Burj Al Arab, the three-largest artificial islands in the world, the Palm Islands, the world’s largest natural flower garden, the Dubai Miracle Garden, and it will soon be home to the world’s biggest ferris wheel, the Dubai Eye.