a Potemkin village feigns the existence of a non-existent thing

From the A.W.A.D. email:
While this setup depicted an illusion of prosperity, the real condition of the village was hidden behind this facade.

There was a village there; it wasn't invented out of whole cardboard. It was not a feigned existence of a non-existent thing; it was dressing up as prosperous a village that was impoverished