This study developed a hierarchical structure of the 43 market centres along the Volta Lake in Ghana\r\nusing their essential characteristics and functional attributes. The functional composite indices used\r\nfor classifying the market centres were computed using weighting techniques which were applied to\r\nresident population, access roads, marketing periodicity, some services of centrality and selected\r\nsurrogates of market participation. Twenty eight (28) of the market centres fell in the lowest (6th) level of\r\nthe market centre hierarchy and were located at varying intervals along the lakeshore. The two 1st and\r\n2nd highest order markets were strategically located in the north of the lake region. The only market\r\ncentre in the 3rd order was located in the south whereas the two markets of the 4th rank were in the\r\nmidsection of the lake region. The study emphasized the importance of the market centres as service\r\ncentres for the Volta Lake Region whose economy is essentially based on agriculture and fishing. The\r\nmarket centres were considered as ââ?¬Ë?naturallyââ?¬â?¢ occurring service centres capable of stimulating growth\r\nimpulses in their catchment areas. The study recommended the adoption of the hierarchical order of\r\nthe market centres as a workable framework for planning the development of the Volta Lake Region.
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