Core-periphery relationship in Techiman District: a case study of Techiman Centre and its environs

Many third world countries have the economic development which is dualistic. The one is basically urban-based with its main activities being Service, Trade, and manufacturing the other is basically rural and the main occupation of its members is agriculture. “Dualistic structure is thus imprinted upon the space economy, comprising a ‘centre’ of rapid intensive development and a periphery’ whose economy, imperfectly related o this centre is either stagnant or declining”. This can be explained by the fact that in most of third world countries, development strategies have concentrated investmen and infrastructural services in few urban locations In Ghana for example, this imbalanced spatial location was clearly identified in the five-year development plan of 1975-1980. “Past development strategy has tended to concentrate the provision of basic infrastructural and social services predominantly in three main areas only out of nine regions comprising Accra- Tema, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi. The$ are the only true urban centres in the country that exert the Necessary Pull effect on the economies of the areas immediately around them”. This reveals the characteristics of the relationship between ‘Centre’ and Periphery in many African countries. As a result of this situation, many of the countries have attempted various forms of Regional Planning as a tool to ameliorate the deteriorating rural economies. This was more evident at the wake of the early 1960s when a number of rural Development projects and programmes sprang up in most African countries. These include strategies which focuses on industrial development, away from the capital cities, others concentratedd on a form of accelerating agricultural growth centres and other countries adopted the growth centres models. These countries include Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania among others. In the late 1970s and early 1980s it was discovered that the establishment of towns outside main capital cities did not bring about the expected spread effects in the rural areas. In Tanzania for example, the development of nine towns outside Dar-es-Salaam (second five-year plan 1969-1974) had little integration with their immediate hinterlands. In Malawi too, Mkandawire and Behnfeld in their assessment of the negative experiences gained out of the pilot phase of the rural growth centres showed that the centres had very little impact in terms of spread effects In response to the above mentioned problems, it became clear that there was a need to adopt development strategies which put more emphasis on growth-with-equity in Developing countries. According to USAID strategy of regional Development, it is believed that equitable growth may be achieved within poor, mainly social regions through establishing a ‘proper’ urban hierarchy and fostering spatial linkages (Gore, 1984) The existence of an unbalanced urban hierarchy with few medium towns D the other hand, can increase marketing costs and depress produce prices (Amegashit 1986). The purpose of this study is to view the existing relationship between Techiman and its hinterland. Answers to pertinent questions such as what is the surface area through which this relationship occurs? What are the variables defining the relationship, and so forth will be the major core of this study.

Source: KNUST