DUBAI, Nov 24: Dubai, famed for its mega-projects before it was hit by the global financial crisis, on Saturday announced a plan to open the world’s biggest mall and a park larger than London’s Hyde Park.

The ruler of the Gulf desert city state, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, announced the plan for a “new city within Dubai,” according to an official statement, naming it after himself.

No cost was stated for “Mohammed bin Rashid City,” to be carried out by his Dubai Holding and the publicly-listed Emaar Properties, which developed many of Dubai’s prestigious projects, including Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.

The plan features residential areas, although the emirate continues to have a surplus of units built during a five-year bubble which burst in 2009.

The “Mall of the World” would have a capacity of 80 million visitors a year to become the “largest in the world,” said the statement, while its park would be “30 per cent bigger than Hyde Park of London”.—AFP