Book Review: Hillary Angelo, How Green Became Good: Urbanized Nature and the Making of Cities and Citizens

Abstract

jeopardizing tax revenue, in general Airbnb avoids giving cities “the data they need to easily and efficiently monitor and enforce regulations or study impact” (p. 47). The second half of the book, which is focused on Australia and Germany, notes that Airbnb was “well-received in Australia where it encountered little resistance from housing advocates and local authorities,” soon making it “the most penetrated market in the world” (p. 81). However, as elsewhere, concerns about “quality of life and neighborhood amenities” (p. 88) soon fueled efforts to research the impact of Airbnb, although “regulation has been mild, primarily taking the form of codes of conduct” (p. 97). By comparison, in Germany, one of the “least penetrated markets” (p. 104), Airbnb and related short-term rentals (STRs) have been “met with a degree of skepticism and resistance” (p. 105). As Hoffman and Heisler note, “in a nation of renters facing a severe housing crisis, Airbnb and STRs have been perceived as extremely threatening because ‘every unit counts’” (p. 126). Looking at the United States, Germany, and Australia, the authors find similar patterns with listings concentrated in “inner-city, trendy and gentrifying neighborhoods” where their concentration leads to “rising rents, house prices and lack of availability” and the conversion to “tourist milieus” displaces locals. Not surprisingly, most cities discussed in the book have a problem with commercial hosts, Airbnb’s so-called “bad actors” who overwhelmingly secure the most rental nights, make the most money from the platform, and never seem to be in short supply, regardless of platform efforts. One can’t help but think that if all the barrels have bad apples, maybe it’s an issue with the orchard . . . Unlike many books on the gig economy, this is decidedly not a trade book. While the authors refer to “narratives,” this is less of a human interest story of what happens to neighbors when Airbnb comes to town and more of a sobering accounting of the reports written by each side. Although the book is an invaluable reference guide to the sheer magnitude of studies conducted to examine the impact of Airbnb and short-term rentals on the local housing market in the case study cities, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more on the actual impact on the ground. Learning that rents are up by a certain percentage in desirable communities is important, but what does that change actually mean for the residents? While unfortunately outside the scope of this book, it would also be fascinating to see the impact of the coronavirus pandemic—and related decrease in tourism—on Airbnb. Did hosts move their rental properties from shortterm back to long-term, enabling a re-seeding of neighborhoods with long-term residents? Or will eviction moratoriums eventually push more landlords into the short-term rental market in order to make up for earlier income shortfalls? With references listed after every chapter, I had great hopes that this could be used in an undergraduate special topics class on the sharing economy. While the writing is clear, and the chapters are manageable, the book would likely be a better fit in a graduate seminar in urban studies or urban planning or an advanced undergraduate seminar focused on cross-cultural perspectives on the sharing economy. In addition, organizations or researchers who plan to field their own studies on the impact of short-term rentals locally would likely find this to be a useful resource, especially when seeking to compare their results with those of other locales.