World's largest (and mostly empty) shopping mall -- you might be surprised.

The world's largest shopping mall is no longer "The Mall of America."

Its the South China Mall... more than TWICE the size of the previous record-holder (Mall of America).

And its mostly empty these days.

The following video is beyond surreal and a must-see... combines the extreme architectual and aesthetic nuttiness of the recent "China Boom" with a cautionary tale that even fast-growing China is not invulnerable to the slowdown.

Watch the video, it will freak you out on more than one level, I believe:

www.pbs.org...

I live in Alberta, Canada.

How big is West Edmonton Mall?
It's biggest in Canada, for sure. I thought 3rd in the world?

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wow that is sort of creepy who its so big and all empty, looks like a ghost town , "too big to fail"? i dont know about that!

Wonder what it will look like in ten years if it stays that way...my guess is that, despite its impressive facades, its built with cheap, flimsy materials. In a hot, wet climate like Southern China, there is the constant battle against mold, water staining, mosquitos, etc...once it starts to decay then it will REALLY be interesting.

[edit on 10/10/09 by silent thunder]

do the Chinese even make enough money to even have any to spend at a mall

if your only paying people pennies you cant expect them to come around throwing out dollars

does a meal at Macdonald's cost 8 dollars like it does in Canada
it would take them like 3 days labor to buy a supper for 1 at mcdonalds

Looks like someone didn't do their homework!
That combined with a "to big to fail" attitude and you have an EPIC FAIL.


China....ya gotta love em.

reply to post by silent thunder

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10 or 12 tenants? What a seriously huge empty
mall. How can it be kept open without revenue?

I'd like to ask the same question about their own operation to the heads of the world's 20 or 30 largest financial instituions...

reply to post by silent thunder

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Good one! Yes how do you manage Hur Paulsen?

That is easy...Geithner gets on the phone to his minions, after all he has the full faith of President Obama! Hope I tell ya, hope!
They keep the whole thing going with the thought of hope!



[edit on 10-10-2009 by burntheships]

Didnt they say they had government investing in it? I think i heard that in the video. That is the only reason i think it hasnt failed YET.

Anyway like others said, yes why make such gigantic shopping center when most people and not going to be able to afford going there. Ratio of space to ratio of people who can afford to shop there... not good

I really don’t think the hot shots on Wall Street would even touch a project like this!! On the other hand I could be wrong if their bonus was big enough of course.

I wonder if anyone there ever heard of a business model or plain before even starting this project?

I thought so too. It's like a big ghostly Titanic, going down.

Edit to add: Oh, good find though. It was interesting to see. f/s

[edit on 10/10/0909 by ladyinwaiting]

The only way they are going to kick start that is have a rail system run through there from neighboring cities. Maybe it's a transportation issue. If you offer free stuff it might get people in there. Like they say in real estate...Location Location Location.

They probably executed whoever was responsible for that "fail".

It's the same story (on a smaller scale) with the over-development in Dubai. Gonna be lot's of empty tenant spaces there too.

It's really funny seeing some of the responses going on in here, especially from those in America, you guys (as expected) typically have to think you's are the best people alive and that you control this world... well the fact is you aren't and you don't!

There is no best and the people in control have no borders.

You should listen to yourselves, seriously! What is the basis of making comments like the mall is made of flimsy materials and I hope it rots or making a humorless remark about how Chinese people shouldn't be able to afford shopping at a mall.

If you knew anything then you would know that America is highly (more or less totally) dependent on Chinese investment just for it's survival, when that dries up I hope you know that it's the Chinese who owns the ground you worship and the cities you call home.

If what I have read here is how the average American sees things then I welcome the New World Order's plan for the death of America with open arms, after all it's you's who created this monster.

[edit on 10-10-2009 by CriticalThinking]

reply to post by CriticalThinking

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Maybe there were some uppity or undesirable comments, but nothing was even as remotely bad as what you said.

There's an easy way to turn this project around. It needs to be re-developed into a living space. If they take two opposite ends of the place and convert it into apartments/condominiums, pop a few grocery stores in the spare square footage, get a robust transportation hub in there and offer great introductory rates to live there, it will boom. What I could see of the surrounding streets looked good enough to get in and out of there, and seemed to be surrounded by enough businesses and other housing to not make it an urban island. Heck, a majority of the apartment renters could likely find work there in the new stores that open to appeal to them.

I hve lived in East Asia, including China and Taiwan, for 24 years. I have personally lived and shopped in buildings in these nations, and I know what the walls and strucures are often like, even in more advanced Asian Nations like Japan. Google "Great Hanshin earthquake" to see some examples.

In 2004 I spent some time translating several lengthy documents relating to building and architecture in this part of the world. The picture was not pretty.

Nowhere in my post did I say anything about "hoping" it rots. I said I EXPECTED it to undergo structural decay IF current conditions persist. Big difference.

You write of "preconceptions" and "assumptions" and mutter darkly and vaguely about "america" and "arrogance." Perhaps a look in the mirror would help, my friend.

[edit on 10/10/09 by silent thunder]

There are more "middle class" Chinese with relatively equal amounts of disposable income in China than there are in the whole of North America combined. You're talking hundreds of millions of the new Urban class that have money to spend on X-box's, fancy shoes and cars like the rest of us in the West.

Also, just because something costs X amount in one country, that doesn't translate in a like for like in another.

Simple research and a whole lot less ignorance would have shown you that what you said was utter gonads.