Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City

by Katie J. Wells, Kafui Ablode Attoh, Declan Cullen

A panoramic account of the urban politics and deep social divisions that gave rise to Uber

The first city to fight back against Uber, Washington, D.C., was also the first city where such resistance was defeated. It was here that the company created a playbook for how to deal with intransigent regulators and to win in the realm of local politics. The city already serves as the nation’s capital. Now, D.C. is also the blueprint for how Uber conquered cities around the world―and explains why so many embraced the company with open arms.

Drawing on interviews with gig workers, policymakers, Uber lobbyists, and community organizers, Disrupting D.C. demonstrates that many share the blame for lowering the nation’s hopes and dreams for what its cities could be. In a sea of broken transit, underemployment, and racial polarization, Uber offered a lifeline. But at what cost?

This is not the story of one company and one city. Instead, Disrupting D.C. offers a 360-degree view of an urban America in crisis. Uber arrived promising a new future for workers, residents, policymakers, and others. Ultimately, Uber’s success and growth was never a sign of urban strength or innovation but a sign of urban weakness and low expectations about what city politics can achieve. Understanding why Uber rose reveals just how far the rest of us have fallen.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Business, Technology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2023

Reviews

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deeply researched but--I don't know that "slight" is a fair word for this book. "Hyperfocused," maybe? I kept wanting them to pull back a little more and examine broader issues and trends. But the page length is right for the detail provided. All my preexisting biases were confirmed and deepened.

[Capie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opinionated, yet thorough research shedding light on some dark places in the gig economy and the changing focus of Washington DC and othe4 city governments.

[☆Annalise☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City is an insightful work that transforms our understanding of cities. Co-author Kafui Attoh, stated in a discussion that the piece’s goal was to inform the audience of a larger failure at the city level, not necessarily to condemn individual choices, encourage boycotting of Uber, or provide advice about improvements (Kafui Attoh, In-class discussion with co-author, October 11, 2024). By this metric, the book is a success, describing Uber’s growth and the implications of technologically-focused advancement. With this in mind, the book elicits a passionate desire for change but fails to make recommendations for policymakers or citizens to enact it. A more nuanced approach might include an exploration of steps for government officials and individuals to uphold democratic principles in the face of tech giants like Uber. That being said, this book is valuable for policymakers at the forefront of decision-making in cities, helping them understand the need for regulating new technologies. Educators, students, and those interested in the urban landscape would benefit from this book's large-scale approach to exploring cities. Additionally, the book’s accessible language and concrete examples provide the general public with opportunities to learn about the layered consequences of privatization. Ultimately, Disrupting D.C. provokes critical thinking about the effects of “innovation” on our cities and its relationship with our expectations of governance, allowing readers to connect the rise of Uber to the fall of the city.

[Dalton TM · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy books such as this one that explore a niche topic, like Uber’s impact on the city of DC, its governing bodies, and its people. Unfortunately, I felt that this deep-dive didn’t have quite enough information to warrant a full book publication, and could have been pared down to a long blog post or a pamphlet.

I learned about DC leaders’ willingness to bend over backwards for Uber in the name of innovation, as well as Uber’s false promises (data sharing, livable working conditions) to its workers and partners in DC. However, the book frequently used long interview quotes that repeated the same arguments, and I felt like much of the book was spent detailing what the book/chapter would discuss rather than actually making its claims.
Still a relatively quick read and probably interesting to this who live(d) in DC or want to learn more about topics related to Uber, gig work, or the intersection of tech and city governance.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a case study look at Uber's introduction into the Washington DC over the past decade. DC was an interesting launch city choice - being a federal district the area has no state or municipal governments and Uber could concentrate their efforts and develop their 'tool kit' launch strategies that they have subsequently rolled out to cities around the world.

This was written in a very academic manner and from an urban-planning lens, but I enjoyed that - lots of resources and bibliographical assets as well. Love or hate Uber, but it is a great example of gig economy type enterprises. Lot of promises and claims up front, not a lot of accountability. Very interesting look at local politics, race relations, labour relations, the future of autonomous-driverless-vehicles.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick read that runs down how Uber became so influential in DC, and how it used it as a blueprint to influence other cities it was trying to win concessions in. Historic racism and general awfulness of the DC taxi industry along with failure to invest in maintaining a decaying public transit system (if you lived in DC circa 2016, you remember how terrible Metro was, with fires, closures and single-tracking galore) gave Uber an opening to capitalize on transportation shortcomings in the District with too-good-to-be-true promises of being the magical solution to everything. This book raises important problems with using the private tech sector as a solution to what are ultimately public policy failures.

[Amanda Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Research can be boring, but absolutely necessary. Thanks to those who did the heavy lifting. Title definitely exaggerated lol, but it’s absolutely the only reason I picked it up! Glad I indulged, which broke down how most (aware) people already felt about Ubers capitalistic ventures and the gig-economy in itself. DC council/government should be ashamed how they folded against Uber. So much for taking a stand as the nations capital; we got played. Shoutout to Ron Linton though.

As a former Uber (now Lyft sporadically) driver, everything hit home. Wish I could have been around for interviews, but truth be told I was only driving to supplement my brunch money. >_<

[Joy]

Unsettling, for sure. This made me never want to take an Uber again. It’s like the Wal-Mart of transportation.

This book is actually 5 previously-published articles. They made a true effort to weave them together, but it did still feel like 5 articles that were all critiquing Uber for different reasons, rather than 1 book.

I half-scanned some of the articles, so it would feel unfair for me to rate this.

[DW Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn between giving this three and four stars. It's an interesting topic, both in general and specifically to me as a DC-based urbanist, but the book definitely suffers from being a collection of journal articles stapled together, and it felt like it didn't have as strong a thesis or argument for a thesis as it might have.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent case study of Uber in Washington, D.C. The pluses & benefits of the elements of the gig economy to governments, consumers & employees. & the negatives. The gig economy is Wall Streets effort to monetize everything they've so far left out & is a powerful force in the race to the bottom. This is good stuff for anyone interested in our economic landscape.