Unreality or Entertainment?

Atlantic CityKunstler, in his chapter called "Capitals of Unreality," looks at the examples of Disneyworld and Atlantic city as "unreal" places. Of course, both these places have been created as entertainment capitals and serve as difficult examples of what is real versus fake. I tend to believe that Kunstler goes a little overboard in his analysis of both locales (not because they are any better than he thinks) but because their function has dictated their form. They do not pretend to be real, and in fact, exist outside of our generally perceived set of normal laws of development, architecture, and laws themselves. It would be one thing if Kunstler two main examples were of normal American towns that slowly shifted towards something "unreal." Surely there are some towns that fit this mold. Perhaps a place like Key West that was once a sleep fishing town and is now a tourist haven closer fits what I would think as an unreal place. I have trouble viewing Disney World in any of the same ways I look at real towns. It is a theme park first and a fake town last. In this case, I allow Disney World several of it egregious decisions because the intention of the place is to be "unreal." It is an escape from reality and it makes no bones about it. In this way, Disney World is as real as anything else. It has a function, and created a form to fulfill that function. Atlantic City's story may be a little more complicated but again, there was an active decision to change the function of the town. Allowing gambling simply changed the nature of the city and allowed for a different function to take over. There was little reason to cater to permanent citizens. Most had since left and now the town's inhabitants were generally the weekend warriors looking for fun. Spaces there are meant for movement and entertainment to encourage more people to come. Again, to me, this does not make a place fake. Atlantic City does not pretend to be anything it isn't. It is a gambling town fraught with post-modern crap architecture (reminds me of somewhere else.) Because it has this identity, I cannot say I believe that Atlantic City is unreal.