With the basic research logic stating that the systematic improvement of rural housing plot's boundary barriers should call for the integrated consideration of their on-and-around installing settings, this study tries to analyse characteristics of installing environment of boundary barriers for improvement works of them. Through literature review and then screening process, 3 influencing and appraisal factors were determined: main house-boundary barrier shortest distance as on-site factor, building coverage as inside one, and attached road width as outside one. 21 study villages were subgrouped into structurally improved(9) and not(12). Site investigation and analysis results showed that the relationship between factors has varied very much, i.e. in some cases it is positive or complementary, but in other cases, negative or crossed. Therefore this study would propose that differentiated and flexible strategies with integrated consideration of on-and-around site installing settings be applied in their improvement projects rather than village-wide unified or straight forwarded ones.

The value and functionality of boundary barriers in rural villages have been neglected in the aspects as the buffer zone(boundary barrier) that links between the inside space(housing site) and the outside space(road). On this understanding, this study evaluated conservation value, economical efficiency and durability by the types and materials of the boundary barriers in rural village through Multi-attribute Decision Making. By applying to the current situations of boundary barriers on total 21 case study villages, each factor value was measured. And using Matrix Analysis Technique, the boundary barriers are classified into 4 types and the improvement ways for each type were proposed. As a result, the durability of boundary barriers in rural villages showed similarity value(more than 0.85 out of 1). But economical efficiency of those was low(less than 0.5 out of 1) and those functionalities were very lacking(about 0.3 out of 1). In the conclusion, the maintenance of boundary barriers in rural villages requires the policy that is able to complement conservation value and economical efficiency and is proper to the characteristic of each village. These renewable policies would contribute to the increase of the value of rural amenity as well as creation of economical and social value.

In the traditional subsistence farming era in Korea, most of small farmer's housing plots in the rural villages had their boundary barriers of which materials being the natural ones provided from nearby places. However, during the rapid industrialization period from 1960s, a traditional type of boundary barriers in the rural villages had been replaced mostly by low-cost factory-made ones, which means absolute loss of their amenity values as a linear part of villagescape. In spite of many study efforts on boundary barriers of traditional rural houses, detailed historical dating on them after 1960s have not tried up to now, which provoked to try this study. Through the direct and in-depth interviews to rural villagers sampled from 21 case villages, it was found that original boundary barriers structure in most of farm houses was made of natural materials like stone, soil, trees and bamboo, but, replaced by cement block structures mostly during Saemaeul Project period. However, although being relatively minority, traditional ones have been preserved up to now mainly in remote mountainous and seashore villages, but was in very low condition. In the overall view, for more than half a century, boundary barriers of farm houses had been left without public or private improvement efforts. In order to enhance their amenity values, more research works should be carried out on positive reassessment of the traditional ones harmonized with multifunctionalities for modern village life.

Functional mismatch and thought and plan-less material use of recently built boundary barriers in rural areas should greatly degrade their amenity value as one of linear villagescapes, but, their present state-of-art basically necessary for problem-solving had never surveyed up to now. From this point of view, this study tried to investigate present stock quantities and qualities of boundary barriers in rural areas by sample studies on 21 case villages(7 types × 3 cases) and comparative analysis between the planned or improved and nots. Wall type was absolutely dominated in the structural terms, of which more than half was used cement block as building material and, therefore, grey-colored. More than half of total barrier length were fully shielded, while relatively partially shielded in the mountainous villages in open space and 'Cultural villages' with closed housing structures. Free standing style of barriers was shown along over two thirds of their total length, although not more than half in planned reclaimed villages. Especially, because of one-sided wall type structure, mismatched over-shieldness and poorer maintenance condition of the boundary barriers in peri-urban villages, there should be provided with very intensive improvement efforts for amenity barriers.