Un-forgetting walls by lines on maps: A case study on property rights,cadastral mapping,and the landscape of the Kowloon Walled City

This paper demonstrates that the framing of post-war Kowloon Walled City through photos has been dominated by the maps commonly used to represent this Chinese enclave in colonial Hong Kong as a place. Inspired by and extending Wylie’s (2009) argument that emptiness and presence are equally important, this paper uses basic GIS techniques and hitherto unpublished archival materials to help (a) argues that the colonial government’s mindset of clearly defining the spatial boundary of the city, which is a subtle admission of an officially and diplomatically denied otherness in ownership, created the city as a quasi-cadastral unit; and (b) explains how this shaped the framing of the landscape of the city by promoting investment and trade in high-rise housing development units. The government did not destroy its walls. When these were physically destroyed, it did not ignore the walls’ original alignments but treated the city as a planning unit, as if they still existed.     

Future themes in the operational environment of the Finnish cadastral system

The cadastral systems used in each country and region have developed through the centuries to their current form. We cannot assume that the current situation will remain the same from this point to the future. There are signs in recent studies and development projects throughout the world that those cadastral systems which are traditionally seen as well-functioning also need to be renewed as society changes at a rapid pace.This study is set up to analyze the future needs of a cadastral system and registers related to it in Finland. The objective of the study is to reveal future themes affecting the operational environment of the cadastral system by using research methods provided by futurology. The method used in this study is called environmental scanning and it consists of three phases: collecting events, recognizing phenomena and combining the phenomena as themes.The study analyses 352 literature sources and reveals 14 different future themes in the operational environment of the cadastral system, which are economic pressure, demographic changes, development of technology, transparent society, safety, environmental values, globalization, digitalization, know-how, quality, political change, soft values, public-private partnership and crowd sourcing. The future themes, their possible relations between each other and their significance for the cadastral system are analyzed by using the concepts of megatrends, trends, wild cards, driving forces and weak signals and reflecting the results to research made in the field of land management internationally.The results can be used when renewing a cadastral system, in order to consider possible future themes that may affect the system. Detecting and recognizing the future themes provides an opportunity to react and change the course of action in order to adapt to the future. The results are not only usable in the Finnish context, but can also be applied in other countries⿿ development of their cadastre and as part of environmental scanning.     

Intermediate levels of property rights and the emerging housing market in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam

Vietnam introduced a Policy of Renovation (‘Doi Moi’ Policy) to restructure the economy in 1986. Under this policy, the Land Use Right Certificate was introduced as a form of tenure for agricultural land and urban land, according to the Land Laws of 1987 and 1993, respectively. However, by 2001, most properties and/or land in Vietnam still did not have a legal title. Although Vietnam's land reforms in the 1990s provided some of the weakest private rights among the transition countries, big cities like Ho Chi Minh City are presently homes to thriving housing markets. Transactions of ‘property without a physical entity and legal title’ in the real estate market show how property ownership can be formed in order to operate within different institutional contexts. This paper highlights that ‘intermediate levels of property rights’ are the driving forces behind the thriving housing market in Ho Chi Minh City.     

Cutting the web of interests: Pitfalls of formalizing property rights

Property rights to land can be thought of as a web of interests, with many different parties having a right to use, regulate, or manage the resource, which may be based on a range of customary institutions or local norms as well as state law. These interests often play a critical role in livelihoods, social relations, and ecological functions. The formalization of property rights has historically led to a cutting of this web, creating more exclusive forms of rights over the resource. Drawing from case studies in Kenya the paper emphasizes the risk of excluding legitimate claimants in formalization processes that focus on individual titling. By collapsing all rights within individuals, such programs have negated the distinct multiple claims by women, youths, and seasonal users, among others. We examine ways in which formalization processes can secure diverse claims, and highlight the need for a better understanding of the social and ecological implications of existing land tenure before they are undermined by formalization.     

Impact of formalisation of property rights in informal settlements: Evidence from Dar es Salaam city

This paper aims to study the responsiveness of the informal property market and management systems towards the introduction of land registration for informal settlements in Tanzania. City governments are increasingly recognising the need to strengthen legal rights for the urban poor as a means to bring them more effectively into the urban economy and ensure better provision of water, sanitation and other primary services. The research focuses on Tanzania and in particular two case studies within Dar es Salaam. The findings of the work suggest that the introduction of residential licenses whilst potentially assisting in creating legal certainty has not resulted in the financial sector accepting them as full security against loans. Accessing credit by the poor however has not yet been fully realised resulting in some further hurdles for the financial sector to overcome. Finally, and of some significance is the registration of property in the informal settlements has provided the opportunity of formal property transactions within these settlements.     

Whose scarcity? Whose property? The case of water in western India

Water scarcity is usually portrayed in absolute or volumetric terms. But do most analyses of scarcity focus on how the ‘problem’ of scarcity is constructed, the need to disaggregate users and their entitlements and the imperative to look at the politics of distribution and technology choice within a frame of political economy? By taking the case of water scarcity in Kutch, western India which is supposed to benefit from the controversial Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project (SSP), the paper demonstrates how scarcity has emerged as a ‘meta-narrative’ that justifies controversial schemes such as large dams, allows for simplistic portrayals of property rights and resource conflicts and also ignores the cultural and symbolic dimensions of resources such as water. Moreover, water scarcity tends to be naturalised and its anthropogenic dimensions are whitewashed. It is thus necessary to distinguish between the biophysical aspects of scarcity that are lived and experienced differently by different people and its ‘constructed’ aspects. The paper draws on a wide range of conceptual approaches such as political ecology, common property resource theory and post-institutional approaches to highlight that scarcity is not a natural condition. Instead, it is usually socially mediated and the result of socio-political and institutional processes. It also argues that while institutional perspectives have played in a key role in moving away from alarmist portrayals of scarcity and property rights by demonstrating how local people can manage and live with scarcity, they need to be complemented by analyses that locate property rights within wider historical, cultural and socio-political processes that combine both discursive and materialist analyses.     

The dilemma of property rights and indigenous institutional arrangements for common resources governance in China

Traditionally, property rights have been seen as an efficient means of optimizing the allocation of common resources. The arrangement of property rights, however, has historically led to a number of social, economic and ecological issues. Herders living in China are currently exploring collective grazing partnerships as they seek to maintain balance between ecological protection and livelihood development in the process of grassland governance. For the purposes of this study, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the property rights dilemma, offering possible solutions for indigenous institutional arrangements as exemplified in six typical cases. We assert that (1) stakeholders should respect local culture by ensuring the participation of herders in policymaking, (2) the use of fences for the demarcation of property rights is ineffective and often serves as a catalyst for the destruction and degradation of grassland ecosystems, and (3) herders’ use of collective action techniques should be reinvented with the support of state policy.     

黑龙江省旅游资源两权分离发展浅析

通过对黑龙江旅游资源产权发展存在障碍的分析，提出了黑龙江未来旅游资源“两权分离”发展的初步构想，并提出了实现这一目标的基本思路和建议。     

Property taxation and rural land values: Their effect on private forestland ownership structure in Texas

The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of property tax and rural land market value on the ownership structure of private forestland in Texas. Using county-level panel data in an Instrumental Variable regression framework, we estimated the effect of property tax rate and rural land value on two measures of ownership fragmentation: the total number of private forest landowners and the average size of private forest holdings. The results indicate that after controlling for the total amount of private forest area in a county, both property tax rates and rural land values increased ownership fragmentation. However, the rate of ownership fragmentation was relatively inelastic in both property tax rate and rural land value. While further restructuring local property tax rates might minimize the negative effect on private ownership dynamics, policy instruments that decrease the disparity between productivity value and market value of rural forestland might be needed to check the ongoing ownership fragmentation in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.     

Formalisation of land rights in the South: An overview

Formalisation of property rights has recently been proposed as a way of reducing poverty. The poor, it is said, do not lack assets, they lack only the formal, protected rights necessary to make these assets engines of entrepreneurship, thriving markets, and information networks. Historical evidence with regard to formalisation programmes is, however, mixed at best, and current universalist proposals contain numerous flaws. A more context-specific and flexible approach is needed, with greater attention to local settings and specific objectives and tools. Property formalisation should not be considered merely a technical tool but must take account of politics and culture.     

财产权利权能理论新拓展:理论框架及其对中国当前集体农地权利体系的合理解释

研究目的:提出权能支的新概念,建立一个新的财产权利权能结构理论框架,对当前中国集体农地权利体系进行解释。研究方法:逻辑推理法,法学分析方法。研究结果:所有权权能结构包括占有、使用、收益和处分四项基本权能,而这四项基本权能由若干更小的基本单元——权能支构成;权能支是财产权利的基本单元,每一个权能支意味着权利人可以依法实施一类行为的可能性,四项基本权能是由若干权能支组成的权能束;基本权能或权能支的分离、重组和耦合形成新的财产权利类型。研究结论:权能支概念的引入,拓宽了既有权能理论的解释能力,可以较好地解释新出现的财产权利的权能结构,也能合理解释权能分离后的所有权和他物权的内涵;基于权能支的概念和新的财产权利权能结构,本文解释了当前中国集体农地权利体系,并就现阶段土地承包经营权权能完善和拓展提出了政策建议。     

关于我国矿业权制度改革的思考

完善矿业权制度是保护、合理利用资源、保护环境的重要保障。我国现行矿业权制度在矿业权的内容及物权性,矿业权主客体等方面都存在着问题。在矿业权制度改革中,应进一步明确矿业权制度的改革目标、任务,研究与物权原则相适应的矿业权制度,研究新的矿产资源储量评价标准和矿业权评估科学方法,以及按矿种分类分级管理的矿业权管理制度。     

用多层次模糊综合评判法分析矿业权项目风险

矿业权评估中 ,风险分析是决定矿业权评估方法的基本因素之一。本文在分析矿业权风险因素的基础上 ,用层次分析法量化各风险指标 ,运用模糊综合评判方法求出矿业权评估价值修正系数 ,据此建立了风险分析条件下的矿业权评估模型 ,并通过实例分析检验该模型的合理性和可操作性 ,对完善现有的矿业权评估方法做了探讨。     

农地发展权及其在土地管理实践中的实施途径与管理方式

农地发展权是国家土地权利的一种,过去很长一段时间里淹没在土地所有权中,这一权利,在农业社会时不太明显,随着社会经济发展对土地需求压力的增加,国家对土地利用的控制也进一步增强,这一权利的社会实现和价值体现才逐步增强,逐步为各利益主体和社会所认识和争夺。本文介绍了农地发展权的起源、概念与内涵,对其在土地管理实践中可能的实施途径进行了分析,最后分别探讨了其在土地管理实践中的几种可能的管理方式。     

关于我国矿业用地取得制度构建的思考

取得矿业权并不当然地取得矿业活动所必需的土地使用权 ,矿业权的行使和土地使用权存在效力冲突。我国现有法律对矿地取得方式或途径的规定已出现严重的不适应 ,本文对我国矿业用地取得方式或法律途径进行了理论探讨 ,并提出了协调矿业用地和土地使用权效力冲突以及建立我国矿业用地取得制度的基本原则     

我国地勘行业管理的思考与建议

依法实施地质勘查行业管理是国土资源部的主要职责之一,随着我国市场经济建设的深入,地勘行业原有的管理体制的改革也在不断地深化,对地勘行业管理的目标、内容、方式等也有了新的要求。文章通过分析地勘行业的性质、地位、分类等特征,提出政府管理部门在行业管理中的作用与定位的建议。     

中国林权制度变革与林业投资的研究

林业产权制度是林业经济发展的基础和核心,林业产权制度的变更对林业的投资有重要的影响,该研究以新中国成立以来的林权变更为基础,对林业投资进行研究,结果表明：林权制度的变更对林业投资有重要的影响,林业投资倾向于营林建设。并提出建议：继续深化林权制度改革,增加国家对林业的投资力度,开拓林业投资新渠道。     

河北省集体林权制度改革的实践与思考

重点论述了河北省集体林权制度改革的范围、重点和目标,以及改革的实质、思路、主要内容。指出目前已取得了初步成效:群众造林绿化积极性明显提高,社会资金开始向林业聚集,农民从林业中得到了更多实惠等,但依然存在思想不解放、确权发证工作困难、林权抵押贷款工作落实困难等突出问题。认为应继续加大宣传力度;坚持依法确权发证,把矛盾纠纷解决在当地;坚持政府协调,推动财政、保险等部门对林业的协作支持;加快配套政策的研究与改革。