It is clear. Fewer and fewer shopping centres have opened in recent years.

Since 2005 the number of malls opened has dropped significantly. In the first half of 2010 only 64 shopping centres opened - a 50% decline on the previous year when 120 centres opened in the same period. A further decline is expected for 2011.

Recent research by Cushman & Wakefield shows that just 2.1 million m² of GLA (gross lettable area) was added in the first half of 2010. For the reminder of 2010 another 3.8 million m² GLA is expected to be added to the market. These 5.9 million m² for all of 2010 would be a decline of just under 20% compared to the 7.1 m² GLA that had been added in the full year of 2009.