Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis

by John Hannigan

Book Overview

Fantasy City analyses the post-industrialist city as a site of entertainment. By discussing examples from a wide variety of venues, including casinos, malls, heritage developments and theme parks, Hannigan questions urban entertainments economic foundations and historical background. He asks whether such areas of fantasy destroy communities or instead create new groupings of shared identities and experiences. The book is written in a student friendly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415150981
• ISBN13: 9780415150989
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Alarmingly accurate

Hannigan aptly notes that many an urban renewal or even "new urbanist" design (say, South Street Seaport) resembles a theme park more than a real city. Especially helpful is the list of characteristics shared by entertainment complexes and "fantasy city" redevelopments. The discussion focuses on economic aspects of development (or why the new city won't be gritty) but also makes some mention of cultural impacts (notably making "the urban" a safe experience for the middle class shopper and off-limits to everyone else). If Hannigan's analysis is correct, we could all be living in Westfield malls soon.

Quite a good book

Let me start off by saying that I finished this book and couldn't put it down. It's a comprehensive and fascinating look at city development specifically focusing on the "entertainment" aspect of city life. It helped me understand the movement towards the all-in-one suburban entertainment centres.