The study is concerned with the examination of rural spatial structure from a viewpoint of the relationships among settlements, and its goal is to suggest what should be taken into account in the process of planning rural living environments. This paper deals mainly with key settlements which link up circumferential settlements according to their functions.
Three study areas were chosen for investigation, each of which had different degrees of proximity to nearby towns. Using a questionnaire, information was collected concerning the spatial distribution of residents' activities and their attitudes toward key settlements.
The results can be summarized as follows:
1) Residents' activities tend to be centred around key settlements. Three types of key settlements were identified based on the centrality of residents' activities.
2) The centrality of a settlement can be measured from a number of key indices measuring such aspects as concentration of shops and public facilities, and the degree of remoteness of an area. But, residents tend to judge the centrality of a settlement by the location of public facilities such as village offices.
The idea of a key settlement should be introduced and developed as a planning concept bearing in mind areal attributes (e. g. proximity to town, spatial distribution of residents' activities, etc. ) so that the networks of social facilities can be improved.