Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis (Routledge Research in Cultural and) - Softcover

Hannigan, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415150981 ISBN 13: 9780415150989

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

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 way with boxed case studies for class discussion.

About this title

Review:

""Fantasy City is a fascinating study of what the author calls "urban entertainment destinations...".This is a well-researched, interesting book that is another important step in correcting the productivist bias in sociology and other social sciences."
-"The Annals of the American Academy
..."collegiate instructors will find "Fantasy City useful classroom fodder for its accessibility to undergraduate students."
-"American Journal of Sociology
"Well documented and well writeen, this timely book covers a controversial subject. Recommended for academic libraries and an interested general public "SUNY Coll. of Technology."
..."Hannigan brings a fresh...approach to the issues with his interesting mixture of sociologically-oriented analysis and...righteous indignation...."Fantasy City is a valuable addition to the growing bibliography of studies on the role of entertainment in the modern (and postmodern) city."
-Demetri Detsaridis, "American Studies International
"Hannigan has written a clear and thoughtprovoking explanation of the proliferation of giant stadiums, casinos, themed restaurants, megastores, and the like across the urban landscape."
-"ARTS, 3/99

From the Publisher:

For release: January 4, 1998
DOWNTOWN DISNEY! THE INNER CITY GOES THEME PARK!

FANTASY CITY Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis

by John Hannigan

Following a wave of de-industrialization and cutbacks in public spending, North American downtowns are reinventing themselves in the best and worst images of Disneyland and Las Vegas. Where piers, factories, warehouses (and sex shops) once stood, today the central city exhibits an infrastructure of casinos, megaplex cinemas, theme restaurants, malls, simulation theaters, and virtual reality arcades which collectively promise to change the face of leisure in the postmodern metropolis. FANTASY CITY (Routledge; January 4 1999; A Trade Paperback Original), by John Hannigan, looks at this new city and what it means for its citizens and for the future of urban development.

Hannigan characterizes the growth of the "Fantasy City" as an ongoing search for risk-free mass entertainment by middle-class consumers preoccupied with and paranoid by the fear associated with "the inner city." This quest has been shaped and directed by a cohort of developers and leisure merchants who have sought to exploit brand synergies and extend them to urban landscapes. In the process, they have created a new American city center, which is characteristically thematized, commercialized, and privatized -- like the new Disney-style Times Square. While such change appears to have brought a sparkly new energy and hope to the urban landscape, it has yet to deliver an economic miracle to the surrounding residents and merchants, who rarely benefit from "spillover" or trickle down business.

By discussing examples from a wide variety of venues, including casinos, malls, and theme parks, Hannigan traces the rise of urban entertainment from the beginning of this century, its decline after World War II to its surprising renaissance in the 80's and 90's. FANTASY CITY uses examples from all over North America and in the final section looks at the entertainment business in the Far East, where in spite of the present distresses the future of themed entertainment is likely to lie. This approachable and provocative book shows that the growth of the "Fantasy City" signals not just the arrival of a new urban space, but also the eventual destruction of the real downtowns and inner cities we've known.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JOHN A. HANNIGAN is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. He has written on cities, social movements and environmental issues, and is the author of Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective (Routledge, 1995, in the Environment & Society series).

How do postmodern cities resemble theme parks and casinos?

How do theme park cities provide risk-free fantasy experiences for middle-class consumers?

Will themed entertainment save our cities or transform them into branded consumer commodities?

FANTASY CITY:

* Discusses Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Las Vegas, New York City, Philadelphia, and Toronto, and others and profiling the North American city as it is likely to look as we prepare to enter the next millennium

* Argues that the tendency on the part of some critics to regard urban transformation as a symptom of "the golden age" is largely misplaced

* Shows how urban entertainment has been tightly controlled and directed along racial and social class lines

* Is written in an accessible fashion, using strong narrative and case histories, as well as photos, boxed inserts, tables, and figures to highlight specific areas of interest

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0415150981
• ISBN 13: 9780415150989
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256