Growing middle-class populations and expansion by retailers are sparking unprecedented levels of shopping center construction globally, with half of the overall developments in China, according to an industry report released yesterday.
About 29.6 million square meters of shopping center space are being built in the world, which is equivalent to the combined existing space in France, the UK and Germany, CB Richard Ellis, the world's largest commercial real estate services provider by revenue, said after tracking 180 major cities globally. Last year, new shopping centers covering 7.8 million square meters opened in these cities, CBRE said.
"Due to the rapid increase of middle-class populations around the world, shopping center developments are on the rise to satisfy growing consumer demand," said Sebastian Skiff, executive director of CBRE Retail in Asia.
"With construction activities expanding rapidly not only in Beijing and Shanghai but also deeper into the highly populated provincial capitals, China is topping the charts for development growth."
The level of shopping center building is more active in emerging markets such as China, Turkey and India than in more mature markets of west Europe and North America, said CBRE, which takes into account the 2011 completions and space now under construction.
Outside China, the most active markets are Abu Dhabi, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi and Sao Paolo, the CBRE report said.
Growing middle-class populations and expansion by retailers are sparking unprecedented levels of shopping center construction globally, with half of the overall developments in China, according to an industry report released yesterday.
