On the need for national land administration infrastructures

Many nations lack a coherent national approach to land administration. Instead, land information and processes are frequently disaggregated across states, provinces, cantons, counties, or municipalities. This is particularly the case in federated countries. The growing body of land administration theory often assumes or prescribes the need for national systems; however, the justification for this approach requires further explanation. Without justification, nations that maintain disaggregated systems lack the impetus to unlock the opportunities veiled within their disparate land administration systems. Moreover, a nation's ability to respond effectively to emerging national and global-scale issues such as climate-change is greatly impeded. This paper aims to explain the need for national land administration infrastructures. Qualitative case studies of the Australian context and the method of triangulation inform the justification. The research reveals most drivers can be classified into six overarching subsets: adherence to international standards by national governments, better federal or central governance, improved shared governance, scale of economies for lower levels of government, opportunities and savings for business, and social inclusion for citizens. Unfortunately, specific drivers are found to be complex and changeable, as political, scientific and environmental debates raise policy issues: there is no single solution. As an alternative, nations must seize on the specific drivers relevant to their context. They must employ them to transform disparate land administration systems into multi-purpose national land administration infrastructures that deliver benefits to all stakeholder groups.     

Land administration “best practice” providing the infrastructure for land policy implementation

Land administration systems, and particularly their core cadastral components, are an important infrastructure which facilitates the implementation of land use policies. While most land administration systems traditionally have a primary objective of supporting the operation of land markets, they are increasingly evolving into a broader land information infrastructure which supports economic development, environmental management and social stability in both developed and developing countries. While a great deal of attention is given to land use policies worldwide concerned with such areas as forest management, coastal zone management, environmental sustainability and managing the urban environment, less attention is given to the infrastructures which facilitate the implementation of the associated policies and programmes. Importantly, all these activities rely on some form of land administration infrastructure which permits the complex range of rights, restrictions and responsibilities in land to be identified, mapped and managed as a basis for policy formulation and implementation. As a result, there is an increasing interest in the concept of land administration infrastructures and their core cadastres, in the principles and policies concerned with establishing such infrastructures and in “best practices”. In addressing this need, this paper attempts to explain the evolving concept of land administration infrastructures, the concept of “best practice” and the concept of a land administration “tool box” of principles, policies, laws and technologies which are useful in reforming or re-engineering land administration systems in support of a broader land policy agenda.     

Land administration for food security: A research synthesis

Food security remains an ongoing global concern: the challenge of ensuring food availability, access, and utility for all, at all times, is yet to be met. The body of literature relating to food security is growing immensely. Land administrators are part of the discourse. Their arguments are spread disparately across academic and professional publications. The distinction between scientific work and political rhetoric is increasingly blurry: the role of land administration needs to be more concisely articulated. This paper provides a new synthesis on the relationships between land administration and food security. It undertakes a review of land administration literature relating to food security. It aims at crystallizing understandings of how land administration supports, or fails to support, food security at a conceptual level, and also the strategic and operational levels of land administration systems. The relationship between land administration and food security appears to be conceptually agreed upon; however, at operational levels the link is less evident. Conceptually, land administration is argued to deliver (and sometimes not deliver) secure land tenure, support for implementation of agricultural policies, access to credit, less litigation, easier land dealings, land taxation, land inventories, and land transaction controls. This enables (or undermines) subsistence farming, development of local agricultural sectors and markets, credit to access to non-local food markets, farm subsidization, more efficient land utilization, fairer international investments, and national food planning strategies. In general, the examined literature tends to focus on problem identification rather than system design. Additionally, the large amount of positive viewpoints need better validation in many cases. Future work needs to concentrate on examining the utility of land information and geospatial tools for food security, extracting lessons from the land administration systems of developed contexts, and improving the links at an operational level.     

Are urban land tenure regulations in Namibia the solution or the problem?

Land tenure in Namibia is regulated by a variety of Acts, some of which date back to as far as 1937, and some of which are yet to be approved by Cabinet. This variety of Acts makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of land administration as a whole, and the appropriateness of coercive instruments with regards to urban land tenure in particular. In this article we evaluate how urban land tenure regularization practices are conducted in Namibia, and to compare new formal procedures, designed to address problems of efficiency and efficacy, to older existing procedures, supposedly not efficient or effective. This evaluation uses a theoretical framework of Pritchett and Woolcock [Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M., 2004. Solutions when the solution is the problem: arraying the disarray in development. World Development 32 (2), 191–212], which deals with public service delivery and transaction-intensive services. Applying this framework for a comparative analysis of 5 different land subdivision practices – each relying on a different land-related act – we conclude that the degree of regulation and regularization is perhaps not so much a solution for urban land tenure problems but more of a problem in itself.     

韩国土地管理法律制度

系统介绍了韩国主要的土地管理法律制度及其内容 ,如土地利用计划管理制度、土地交易管制制度、土地征用管理制度、农地管理制度、土地租税征管制度、土地开发管理制度等 ,并对这些制度执行过程中的经验和教训等进行了深刻分析 ,为中国土地管理法制建设提供了借鉴和参考。     

A conceptual framework for utilising VGI in land administration

Land administration systems assist citizens in identifying their rights, restrictions and responsibilities (RRRs) associated with land and property. However, delineating the spatial extent of all RRRs regulated in legislation remains a challenge. Approaches that have been used so far are mainly based on accurate surveying processes, which are untimely and too expensive. Previous studies proposed Volunteered Geographical Information (VGI) as a practical and low-cost method for fast acquisition of spatial data from volunteered contributions, mostly for countries where a limited number of land rights records exist. However, VGI could be beneficial for advanced and developing land administration systems in terms of collecting a range of RRRs which are not spatially well recorded and represented. A multidisciplinary review of the literature on VGI and land administration reveals the lack of a comprehensive conceptual framework for utilising VGI in land administration for the purpose of collecting a range of RRRs related to land and property. This paper investigates the main aspects of utilising VGI in land administration based on qualitative content analysis of available resources. The outcome of this research suggests that using VGI in land administration requires a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and interconnections of legal, institutional, technical and social aspects within each jurisdiction. These findings are merged to formulate a generic and innovative conceptual framework which serves as a basis for the process of collecting land and property RRRs from volunteer contributions.     

Adoption of volunteered geographic information into the formal land administration system in Kenya

Individualization of tenure through title registration programmes introduced in many African countries after independence with the promise of security of tenure and increased agricultural productivity has, instead, had the opposite effect. Informal land arrangements continue to emerge as a result of the slow pace of land adjudication (formalization) and updating of land information systems. The trend towards computerization of land information systems has only put focus on already existing formal land tenure arrangements, leaving out the informal social tenure arrangements. As a result, there are now many efforts worldwide motivated by the introduction of the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM), and freely-available and easy-to-use technology tools to identify, document and map land in support of informal land administration arrangements. Actions are made towards the use of community-generated information to support land administration. Using theories from the interplay between formal and informal institutions, this paper discusses the potential outcomes in adopting Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in land administration in Kenya. Two case studies are presented that demonstrate the complementary-accommodating, versus the substitutive-competing approaches. These are then compared with the formal land adjudication process in Kenya. It is established that because of the direct involvement of the national mapping agency in land adjudication where VGI is utilized, the outcome is a case of formal adoption of VGI, while in the other case, where there is little or no involvement by the national mapping agency, the outcome is more of competition and substitution. The latter is an example in which the VGI is used just like any other information to inform policy making, rather than taking it as the authoritative source. We argue that since informality is – and will always be – part and parcel of land administration in many African countries as a result of ingrained social relations and power structures, adopting crowdsourced land information into existing formal land administration systems should consider the particular land administration process, satisfying innate demands and requirements, thus re-engineered to accommodate VGI.     

Policy Discourses on Women's Land Rights in Sub–Saharan Africa: The Implications of the Re–turn to the Customary

This article examines some contemporary policy discourses on land tenure reform in sub–Saharan Africa and their implications for women's interests in land. It demonstrates an emerging consensus among a range of influential policy institutions, lawyers and academics about the potential of so–called customary systems of land tenure to meet the needs of all land users and claimants. This consensus, which has arisen out of critiques of past attempts at land titling and registration, particularly in Kenya, is rooted in modernizing discourses and/or evolutionary theories of land tenure and embraces particular and contested understandings of customary law and legal pluralism. It has also fed into a wide–ranging critique of the failures of the post–colonial state in Africa, which has been important in the current retreat of the state under structural adjustment programmes. African women lawyers, a minority dissenting voice, are much more equivocal about trusting the customary, preferring instead to look to the State for laws to protect women's interests. We agree that there are considerable problems with so–called customary systems of land tenure and administration for achieving gender justice with respect to women's land claims. Insufficient attention is being paid to power relations in the countryside and their implications for social groups, such as women, who are not well positioned and represented in local level power structures. But considerable changes to political and legal practices and cultures will be needed before African states can begin to deliver gender justice with respect to land.     

Urban land administration and planning in China: Opportunities and constraints of spatial data models

China's economic reforms over the past decades have given rise to the development of a rudimentary urban land market. Although one cannot speak of a land “market” in the strict sense of the word, there is an urban land allocation system in which land lease rights can be acquired through the payment of a land-use fee. If the urban land market is to develop in a sustainable manner, new credible institutions need to be established that can safeguard greater legal security and transparency. For these purposes, it is necessary to establish a management system that can support the legal (tenure security), economic (leases, taxes) and broader aspects (spatial and environmental land use policies) of land administration. To make an urban land administration system socially credible and functional, land-related information should be registered and structured at a detailed spatial level, such as parcels. There is no parcel-based information system in China, but the country has developed a population registration system at a detailed spatial level that could be a starting point to develop integrated information systems, or a so-called “local spatial data infrastructure”. This paper reviews China's population registration system and their spatial units and presents a proposal for an information system that can be expanded or adapted to meet the requirements of an effective land administration system.     

The Cadastral triangular model

Successful economies rely on effective land administration systems. A key contributor to land administration is the cadastral system and its support for the ongoing definition of boundaries that support secure property rights and effective land management.Cadastral systems are complex and typically have significant differences in legislation, regulation and survey practices between jurisdictions. And yet the high-level objectives of a cadastral system tend to be essentially the same the world over. Comparisons of cadastral systems in different jurisdictions can easily become focused on the technical, legal, or implementation differences. This can obscure commonalities and opportunities to develop common strategies for the efficient maintenance and development of cadastral systems.Changes in technology have significantly altered the way that cadastral boundaries can be marked and located in the real world and then represented or visualised on maps or plans and in databases. The rate of take up of these technologies, and the form of that take up, varies between jurisdictions.A conceptual model to explore the complex relationships between different representations of cadastral boundaries has been developed. This model, which has broad application, is known as the Cadastral Triangular Model (CTM). The CTM is a valuable tool to explore and resolve complex issues facing cadastral systems, for example proposals for the evolution of 3D cadastres. This paper describes the CTM, how it can be used and identifies further applications of this model to address contemporary issues confronting cadastral authorities.     

Evaluating land administration projects in developing countries

There have been various approaches to evaluating and comparing the performance of land administration and land titling projects in developing countries. Many of these consider the efficiency of land administration processes and the capacity of institutions. This paper presents the results of research undertaken by the authors and considers the most common approaches taken to date, and the strengths and limitations of these approaches. The authors argue that improvements are needed to project design and make recommendations for more effective use of socio-economic analyses.     

Evaluating land administration systems: A comparative method with an application to Peru and Honduras

This article develops a comparative methodology for the evaluation of national land administration systems. We propose a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators with benchmarks for each one of them that signal possible venues to improve the administration's structure and budgetary/management arrangements, in order to bring about the following goals: (1) to contribute to public sector financing through taxes; (2) to encourage the productive and sustainable use of land, and (3) to facilitate access to land for low-income citizens. This methodology was applied to the cases of Honduras and Peru in order to refine our draft evaluation indicators, while evaluating the systems of both countries. Here we present the final refined indicators and benchmarks, and the conclusions from both case studies.     

黑龙江省城市土地利用绩效评价及其时空变化特征分析

定量分析和评价城市土地利用绩效并确定其空间分布,有助于土地管理的宏观调控和土地资源的优化配置。本文以黑龙江省12个地级市建成区为研究区,从土地利用程度、土地利用效率、土地利用可持续性和土地管理四个方面构建城市土地利用绩效评价指标体系,运用熵权法确定权重,采用多目标综合评价法对2001~2012年黑龙江省12个城市土地利用绩效水平进行分析比较;并以评价结果为样本点,通过聚类分析得出黑龙江省城市土地利用绩效水平的空间分布特征。结果表明:2001~2012年,12个地级市的土地利用绩效水平呈不同变化趋势,总体绩效水平上升,根据评价结果将12个城市分为土地利用高绩效地区、中等绩效地区和低绩效地区三大类;在空间上,城市土地利用绩效水平整体呈现西高东低、南高北低的特征格局,各城市的土地利用绩效水平差距较明显。     

Customary land allocation,urbanization and land use planning in Ghana: Implications for food systems in the Wa Municipality

Food insecurity remains persistent in the Global South due to constraints in food production capacities and intricate land tenure systems that stifle investment in agriculture. In the urbanized regions, uncontrolled urbanization and non-compliant land use systems have further worsened the potentials for urban food production. This research is based on a case study of the Wa Municipality in order to assess the influences of customary land allocation and peri-urbanization on land use planning and foods systems in Ghana using explorative and narrative research approaches. The study identified that customary stakeholders responsible for allocating such lands in the Wa Municipality were indiscriminately converting large tracts of hitherto agricultural lands to urban land uses. Statutorily prepared land use plans are hardly enforced and the planning priorities are on residential and commercial land uses that command higher land values to the detriment of agricultural lands. Weak institutional linkages also characterize the mandated planning and land administration institutions, with a planning system that is reactive rather than proactive in addressing development control challenges across the country. There is the need for planning authorities to adopt participatory land uses planning together with customary landholders and educating them on the essence of comprehensive land use planning approaches. Based on the findings, local governments need to partner landowners to identify and reserve high potential agricultural land for sustainable urban food production.     

Catalysing global and local social change in the land sector through technical innovation by the United Nations and the Global Land Tool Network

Two thirds of the world’s 6 billion tenures are not part of formal governance arrangements. UN-Habitat facilitated the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) partners to develop pro poor land tools between 2006–2015 to help to fill gaps in the conventional land administration systems. Through the lens of the United Nations (UN) working with a global network, the problem being addressed is about how to develop a pro poor Geographic Information System (GIS) in a way that can lead to changes in power relations in parts of the global land industry; and so that people in some poor communities can have their land rights supported by land documents and digital data. The history of the development of the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM), elucidates the social change approaches that can contribute to the alteration of land-related power relations from global to local levels. The explanatory power of soft systems methodology, linked to global network governance approaches, including the indirect governance approach of orchestration with, and through, intermediaries, is used. This contributes to sociological understanding about what is involved in bringing about social change in global networked environments linked to the UN in regard to technical innovations.     

建立生态标准体系加强城市国土空间管理

城市空间是国土空间的重要组成部分。随着城市化进程的快速推进,我国城市发展面临着资源消耗加剧、环境污染恶化、生态资源减少、国土空间布局失衡等问题的困扰。建立城市生态标准体系,对城市生态环境要素和生产生活方式做出系统化、具体化规定,推进生产空间集约高效,促进生活空间宜居适度,保障生态空间山清水秀,是有效协调城市空间需求压力与有限国土资源矛盾的内在要求。结合城市与生态文明建设的实际,研究制定统一的城市国土空间生态标准体系与考核办法,建立城市生态系统监测与信息采集系统,组建由多部门协同运作的综合组织机构对城市生态建设进行评价与考核,完善城市国土空间开发利用的考核评价体系,是加强城市国土空间管理的有效对策。     

我国土地产权制度建设分析

土地产权制度是我国土地市场建设的核心。随着社会经济不断发展,我国土地产权制度经历了从无到有、从局部开展到全面推进的发展历程,为社会经济的快速健康发展提供了重要保障作用。从阐述我国产权制度立法和管理的观状及存在的问题着手,从不同角度提出了今后我国土地产权制度建设的思路和设想。     

北京市土地储备开发集约化策略研究

研究目的：通过对北京市土地储备开发的研究,寻求土地储备开发集约化的策略。研究方法：文献资料法和因果分析法。研究结果：建立了新的土地储备开发集约化实施和管理机制,并确定了土地储备开发集约化的实施保障措施,以保证土地储备开发集约化的实现。研究结论：本文从土地储备开发集约化角度出发,找到一条与区域土地开发和城市建设管理相统筹的路子,创新土地储备开发机制,实现资源利用最大化,为更加科学合理地进行土地储备开发提供了新思路。