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New shopping centres comprising a record 15 million m² of retail floorspace are expected to open in Europe by the end of 2008, according to the latest European Shopping Centre Development Report from real estate adviser Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).

The figure will be the highest since 1965 when C&W began monitoring the introduction and growth of shopping centres in Europe. Looking further ahead, the development pipeline figure for the 18 months from July 2008 to the end of 2009 is even larger and stands currently at 26 million m² with the emerging European markets of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey accounting for 58% of the total. Over the next 18 months shopping centre floorspace is set to double in both Russia and Ukraine, C&W report shows.

Russia tops the overall ranking with 10 million m² of space under construction with completion scheduled until the end of 2009. This figure includes 14 super-regional schemes of more than 100,000 m². The largest scheme due to open by the end of 2009 is Forum Istanbul in Turkey which will be over 172,000 m². By contrast, development in Bulgaria has been slower than in its neighbours with just under 350,000 m² of new space under contruction. Proportionately, however, it will see a huge 400% increase over 18 months.

Darren Yates, associate in C&W's European research group, said: 'So far, the liquidity crisis has had only a limited impact on shopping centre development. A handful of schemes have been postponed in the UK, for example. However, if the current crisis is prolonged, a greater impact may be seen on developers' ability to access funds in the coming months. Moreover, the impact on consumer spending may also become more apparent, potentially filtering through to retailer demand for new shopping centre space.'

Spain and Italy recorded the largest amount of newly opened shopping centre floorspace during the first half of 2008 in Western Europe but the UK recorded the largest centre openings with three completions accounting for around 280,000 m².