브라질 상파울루 봉헤치루 코리아타운의 의류산업지구 기능 약화 요인 분석 = An Analysis of the Factors Behind the Functional Weakening of the Apparel Industrial District in Bom Retiro Koreatown, São Paulo, Brazil

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study analyzes the formation of the industrial district in Bom Retiro Koreatown, São Paulo, Brazil, and the process by which its functions have weakened. The key findings are summarized as follows. First, the growth of the Bom Retiro apparel industrial district was the result of an interplay among migration history, industrial organization, and spatial structure. Chain migration and ethnic networks, gye (rotating savings groups) and other informal finance, the vertical integration of ground-floor showrooms with upper-floor production, and the combination of Pronto Entrega (immediate delivery) with dual wholesale–retail operations enabled rapid, high-density clustering and turnover in a short period. Second, functional weakening stemmed not from a single cause but from compounded shocks. The 2014–2016 recession and COVID-19 simultaneously depressed demand, cash flow, and employment; under labor-friendly institutions, payroll costs and litigation risks rose, while rent increases and asymmetric ownership structures drove up fixed costs. Informal low-price competition in the Brás market and the spread of global brands and e-commerce intensified structural pressures on price and channels, and over-competition and design copying within the Korean community eroded the social basis for cooperation. Added to this, ethnic succession by Bolivian and Chinese actors shifted perceptions of Bom Retiro from a “mandatory base” for Korean apparel businesses to a “choice,” thereby weakening the district’s functional role.