According to the ICSC, over 500 new centers totaling 17.9 million sf were planned between 2006 and 2009, the majority in mature retail markets in Western Europe. Still, about 130 projects are planned for EU-accession countries, nearly doubling the existing stock. And in Eastern Europe, a number of projects are being built in second-tier cities, a new trend, said Christoph Achammer, a board member of architecture and engineering firm ATP Group, in Vienna.

"Big centers are not just in big cities, but have spread to cities of 50,000 to 70,000 inhabitants," such as the 60,000-sm (646,000-sf) Polus Centre in Ciuj, Romania, Achammer said.

In more developed Western Europe, projects are focused on the inner city, with renovations particularly important. But creating projects that will last remains a challenge as developers face contradictory trends, such as luxury shoppers also frequenting discounters, and globalization co-existing with cocooning. All of this must be incorporated into both new and existing centers, which increasingly are being refurbished and must take rising fuel prices into account. Only the strong Euro has prevented fuel costs from rising 40%, noted Stina Soewarta, a member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Andris Pielbags, the EU Commissioner for Energy.