MORTGAGES, NOTES AND LOANS PAYABLE (Details) (USD $)	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2012 Ala Moana Center	Jun. 30, 2012 Ala Moana Center	Apr. 02, 2012 Ala Moana Center	Jun. 30, 2012 The Grand Canal Shoppes and The Shoppes at The Palazzo	Jun. 06, 2012 The Grand Canal Shoppes and The Shoppes at The Palazzo	Jun. 06, 2012 The Grand Canal Shoppes	Jun. 30, 2012 The Shoppes at the Palazzo	Jun. 06, 2012 The Shoppes at the Palazzo	Jun. 30, 2012 GGP Capital Trust I	Jun. 30, 2012 Collateralized mortgages, notes and loans payable	Dec. 31, 2011 Collateralized mortgages, notes and loans payable	Jun. 30, 2012 Corporate and other unsecured term loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate and other unsecured term loans	Jun. 30, 2012 Junior Subordinated Notes due 2041	Jun. 30, 2012 Bonds payable	Dec. 31, 2011 Bonds payable	Sep. 30, 2012 Bonds payable Debt instrument expected to be repaid	Jun. 30, 2012 Bonds payable Minimum	Jun. 30, 2012 Bonds payable Maximum	Jun. 30, 2012 Revolving credit facility, (the "Facility")	Apr. 30, 2012 Revolving credit facility, (the "Facility")	Jun. 30, 2012 Note payable maturing in 2015
Mortgages, notes and loans payable
Fixed-rate debt	$ 14,403,203,000	$ 14,795,370,000										$ 12,710,990,000	$ 13,091,080,000	$ 1,692,213,000	$ 1,704,290,000
Variable-rate debt	1,876,117,000	2,347,644,000										1,876,117,000	2,347,644,000
Total mortgages, notes and loans payable	16,279,320,000	17,143,014,000
Junior Subordinated Notes	206,200,000	206,200,000
Weighted-average interest rate (as a percent)												5.00%	5.13%	6.21%	6.18%
Land, buildings and equipment and developments in progress (before accumulated depreciation) pledged as collateral												21,680,000,000
Secured debt, cross-collateralized with other properties												2,390,000,000
Long-term debt												14,590,000,000					1,650,000,000	1,650,000,000	349,500,000
Amount of recourse fixed and variable rate debt												1,600,000,000
Closing of secured financing			1,400,000,000			625,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)				5.59%	4.23%		4.24%	4.78%												5.38%	7.20%			4.41%
Previous borrowing capacity					1,290,000,000			368,100,000		239,000,000
Issuance of trust preferred securities											200,000,000
Common securities issued to GGLP											6,200,000
Purchase of Junior Subordinated Notes											206,200,000
Maximum borrowing capacity																							1,000,000,000
Variable rate basis	LIBOR								LIBOR		LIBOR					LIBOR						LIBOR
Basis spread on variable rate (as a percent)										3.00%						1.45%						2.25%
Maturity amount of loan									238,700,000
Gain on extinguishment of debt	9,911,000		110,000,000						18,700,000
Note payable																								22,300,000
Trust Preferred Securities, basis spread on variable rate											1.45%
Outstanding letter of credit and surety bonds	19,600,000	19,100,000
Market rate adjustment excluded from corporate and other unsecured loans	$ 19,900,000