Dubai: By lifting the veil on the Mall of the World development, Dubai is showing it will stick with the strategy of creating mega-projects to fuel tomorrow’s economic growth.

It is a game plan that has served the emirate well over the decades, through creations such as the Jebel Ali Free Zone, the series of expansions at Dubai International Airport and the subsequent announcement of Dubai World Central, the billion-dollar fleet additions from Emirates, and the Palm and Burj launches, to name a few. In short, the “build (or place orders in Emirates’ case) and they’ll come” dictum had served the emirate’s economic interests.

But through the tiring years of the financial crisis, which had been set off by the excessive tapping of debt, it was thought that Dubai would require a change in its time-tested growth tactic. Instead, it was felt that scaled down versions would suit it just as well.

But then came the Expo 2020 win announcement and it is again back to full-throttle mode. For Dubai, the hosting of the global event is not confined to the six months that the show will go on, but creates a platform of infrastructure and destinations that will serve its needs well beyond that.

Saturday’s announcement of the Mall of the World is a big piece of how that future will shape up. As a destination that would attract a projected 180 million annually, it has gargantuan proportions. (Keep in mind, that The Dubai Mall, the world’s top retail destination, had 75 million visitors in 2013.)

“Looking at Dubai’s tourism industry, the retail offering — both in terms of malls as well as the various initiatives such as Dubai Summer Surprises and the Shopping Festival — provide key attractions to bring higher visitor numbers year-on-year and in line with the original 2020 vision,” said Simon Townsend, business development manager at the global consultancy DTZ.

“In addition to Saturday’s announcement, there are other large malls under planning or construction and potentially will result in Dubai having the most square foot of retail space per person on a global basis. The key to success is likely not down to design or construction but down to location and accessibility. As more details emerge, it will be interesting to see how the mall will be placed to capitalise on the growing population, increases in annual visitor numbers and growing retail spend.”

Interestingly, the formal announcement of the project does not specify a timeline for completion. Nor is the projected estimate of the development cost given.

But in the official announcement, Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, chairman of Dubai Holding — the developer of Mall of the World — states: “The project will be built in phases in alignment with the gradual growth of family tourism in Dubai.”

It could be that the key elements of the project will be well and truly in place by 2020 and the others could be integrated in subsequent phases. The addition of the glass dome enclosure and as many as 100 hotels connected to the retail portion immediately raises the complexity of the design and construction phases. (The days of a mall connected to a hotel or two is now well and truly passé.)

What will it mean for the construction timeline? According to Townsend, “In terms of delivery, Expo 2020 to many seems some way in the future. In construction terms, there is a limited window to ensure that all pre-construction activities are undertaken to allow the physical and completion before the commencement of the Expo.

“We have seen recently with the World Cup in Brazil that works were effectively still ongoing on until the eve of the launch.

“Dubai has a strong construction industry with an experience in delivering market-changing projects; while tight there will be sufficient time to deliver a project even of the scale of the “world’s largest mall”.”