Journal of the Korean Geographical Society (대한지리학회지)

The Korean Geographical Society (대한지리학회)
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Rethinking Los Angeles Koreatown: Multi-scaled Geographic Transition since the Mid-1990s

로스앤젤레스 한인타운 다시 생각하기: 1990년대 중반 이후의 다중스케일적 지리적 변동

  • Park, Kyong-Hwan (Division of Social Studies Education (Geography Major), Chonnam National University) ;
  • Lee, Young-Min (Department of Social Studies Education, Ewha Womans University)
  • Published : 2007.06.30
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Abstract

During the last decade, Los Angeles Koreatown experienced unprecedented changes transforming it from an immigrant ethnic enclave into a transnational economic space. Alongside of the city government's redevelopment plans and local Korean Americans' grass-root efforts to regenerate Koreatown, transnational Korean actors have aggressively invested in property as well as business sectors. However, despite these multi-scaled geographic transitions, Koreatown remains one of the poorest and most crime-infested inner-city communities in the City of Los Angeles. This paper, based on a 'place-based' bottom-up approach, investigates contradictory geographies of Koreatown in which multi-scaled network of hegemonic transnational, urban and local development actors has developed representational, unlived economies. This research points out that the recent urban regeneration of Koreatown has not only excluded but also exploited local community members such as transnational Korean/Latino workers in the area. This paper conclusively suggests that the sustainable future of Koreatown's development would stem from place-based community consciousness that crisscrosses racial and ethnic boundaries.

로스앤젤레스 한인타운은 지난 10여 년에 걸쳐 소수민족 이민자들의 엔클레이브(enclave)에서 초국적 경제공간으로 변모하고 있다. 도시정부의 재개발 계획과 지역 한인들의 경제재활성화를 위한 노력이 진행됨과 동시에, 한국으로부터의 초국적 행위자들은 기업부문뿐만 아니라 부동산 시장에 공격적으로 투자하고 있다. 그러나 모순적이게도 이러한 다중스케일적 지리적 변동은 한인타운을 로스앤젤레스에서 가장 빈곤하고 위험한 내부도시의 하나로 전락시키는 데에 기여하고 있다. 본 논문은 장소에 기반한 아래로부터의 접근을 토대로 이러한 공간적 모순의 본질을 탐색하는데, 특히 헤게모니를 쥔 로컬 행위자들, 도시정부, 초국적 행위자들이 형성하는 다중스케일적 네트워크가 최근 한인타운이 지니는 일상적 삶과 유리된 재현의 경제를 발달시키고 있음을 지적한다. 또한, 본 연구는 이러한 한인타운의 도시재생이 이 구역에 거주하는 한인들과 라티노 노동자들을 포함하는 커뮤니티 구성원을 배제시키고 착취하고 있음을 밝히고자 한다. 결론적으로 본 연구는 한인타운의 지속가능한 미래는 민족 담론을 극복하고 인종, 민족을 횡단할수 있는 '장소기반의' 커뮤니티 의식에서 논의되어야 함을 주장한다.

Keywords

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