An intramax derivation of commodity market areas from freight flow data

This paper describes the use of a functional regionalisation procedure in partitioning a series of commodity flow matrices. The applications serve to highlight a number of issues that are raised in the interpretation of the flow structures and patterns of interrelationships between areas that emerge from the analysis. In particular, the paper illustrates the problems that are encountered in attempting to both distinguish and summarise the similarities and differences that are observed in the configuration and extent of commodity market areas. The results underline the need to devise measures that enable the measurement of the degree of difference or similarity between a series of grouping structures that are produced by a hierarchical grouping procedure of the type employed here.