Bi'Anncha Andrews is a doctoral candidate in the Urban and Regional Planning and Design (URPD) program at the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition to her academic work, Bi’Anncha is a licensed social worker and received her master’s degree in social work from The Catholic University of America. Bi'Anncha also holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, which she obtained from Trinity Washington University.
Blending these people-focused skill sets with her research interests, Bi’Anncha developed a framework she identifies as “Dispossession by Design”, which she also commonly refers to as “The Oppressors Playbook”. The Dispossession by Design framework serves as a critical lens for analyzing and comprehending the intentional and systematic processes of community development and design that target, marginalize, and disenfranchise low-income and working-class BIPOC- and immigrant-based communities. It highlights the complicity of multiple actors such as planners, property owners, real estate agents, law enforcement, and government entities and institutions, which either conspire or willfully ignore the escalating neglect of homes and public infrastructure in urban areas historically and/or predominantly occupied by vulnerable populations. By shedding light on the deliberate policies and practices that foster violence, neglect, and decay in these neighborhoods, the framework powerfully exposes the underlying racial, economic, class, and gender-based motivations fueling such dispossession, revealing an urgent call for accountability and transformative action.
Utilizing the framework, Bi'Anncha's dissertation research investigates the impacts of gentrification-induced public housing demolition on low-income, Black women, while centering the intersecting roles that race, class, and gender have played in shaping the neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage and limited access to effective social services and social support networks, that these women are forced to reside in. More specifically, her work pays particular attention to the disruptions it causes for Black Women who are displaced from public housing projects. Her dissertation investigates how Black Women navigate their transition out of gentrifying neighborhoods, and how they begin to rebuild the social service and neighborhood-based support networks they were dispossessed of, once they arrive in their new environments.
Bi'Anncha has taught Advanced Planning Courses at the University of Maryland including URSP673 - Community Development which she served as the lead instructor; and URSP 708 - Advanced Community Planning Studio course which she served as the Teaching Assistant with Dr. Clara Irazábal.
ADVISOR:
SPECIALIZATIONS:
Residential and Commercial Gentrification
Anti-Displacement Policy and Practice
Dispossessions through Displacement
Public Housing Demolition
Racialized Disinvestment
Residential Segregation
Concentrated Poverty
Black Feminist Theory
Access to Social Services and Social Support Networks
Restorative and Reparative Planning Practices
On/Off-Campus Job
Research Consultant/Community Organizer for the Braxton Institute For Sustainability, Resiliency & Joy's #Reparations4LakelandNow! Campaign
EXTRACURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT
2024-2025 Researching Black Washington Totman Fellow
Career Ambitions
Bi'Anncha aspires to forge a career trajectory that blends her expertise as a researcher, licensed practitioner, and trained organizer, positioning herself for roles in either a tenured-track academic position, as a practitioner, or as a research consultant. In any capacity, she aims to actively collaborate with universities and researchers, policy advocates, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and grassroots community groups to develop and implement comprehensive anti-displacement policies that prioritize social inclusivity and equity. By fostering partnerships with stakeholders at all levels, she seeks to directly address the systemic inequalities that contribute to targeted displacement. This endeavor involves employing data-driven approaches to policy advocacy, engaging in participatory planning processes that empower affected communities, and advocating for legislation that safeguards vulnerable populations. Her goal is to ensure that urban development projects are not only economically viable but also socially responsible, creating environments where all residents can thrive while preserving the cultural and historical significance of their neighborhoods. Through this multifaceted engagement, she aspires to position herself as a catalyst for transformative change in urban policy, championing a vision of cities that embrace diversity and equitable access to resources for every resident.