Towards 3D-enabled urban land administration: Strategic lessons from the BIM initiative in Singapore

Over the last 15 years, there has been great interest and commensurate momentum in the land administration industry on realising the notion of ‘3D cadastres’. This leverages 3D digital technologies for producing, managing, registering and communicating information about complex, volumetrically defined land and property rights, restrictions and responsibilities (RRRs) that are commonly found in cities and urban areas around the world. There has been significant technical progress but implementation remains uncertain. This paper draws on research conducted on the implementation of 3D Building Information Models (BIM) for regulatory processes in the land development industry in Singapore to illustrate the range of strategies used to induce change in an instance of 3D digital innovation. The adoption of institutional theory as an analytical framework provides insight into the cultural and behavioural underpinnings of these strategies and what makes them particularly effective in producing a positive response to change. Given the similarity in the institutional characteristics of the land development and land administration industries, the case study findings are used to develop a framework of strategic principles that could conceivably be used to support ongoing international efforts to realise 3D cadastres.     

Developing a spatial planning information package in ISO 19152 land administration domain model

Cities establish and maintain Land Administration Systems (LAS) to manage information about the land and urban space. Recognizing the importance of the urban space for sustainable development, information from spatial planning will affect land administration and vice versa. Therefore, every aspect that influences land use, both from spatial planning and land administration should be identified, documented, and standardized as they contain legally binding rules for governments and citizens. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), ISO standard 19152:2012, offers guidelines to ensure interoperability in the representation of Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities (RRRs). LADM is also capable of standardizing multi-dimensional representation, including the temporal capability for documenting and visualizing all legal aspects of land use or space. This paper discusses how to construct interoperable information between the spatial plan and land administration. We present the standardization of spatial planning information and land administration as subsets of land-related information. The paper proposes the development of a spatial planning package within the existing LADM standard.     

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.     

3D Cadastres in India: Examining the status and potential for land administration and management in Delhi

Urbanization and the trend towards complex infrastructure development challenges the traditional two-dimensional (2D) cadastral representations used in conventional land administration. Three-dimensional (3D) representations are argued to serve as the future basis upon which to spatially define rights, restrictions and responsibilities (RRRs) in these environments. In Delhi, the capital city of India, where horizontal expansion via new settlements in peri-urban areas, and vertical expansion by densification of city infrastructure, are both prevalent, the need to manage this increasingly complex 3D infrastructure environment presents a great challenge for land administration and management agencies. This paper explores both the current and potential future application of 3D representation in Delhi, with respect to land use planning, development and management. A cross-cutting thematic case study analysis is undertaken: policy drivers, legal frameworks, organizational aspects, and technical standards are considered. For each aspect a separate analytical approach is used. Based on the results, it is concluded that current practices related to 3D representation are somewhat immature and not adequate for capturing the future vertical growth of Delhi. This could lead to legal and physical boundary inconsistencies and irregularities, and dispute cases. However, by learning from international developments and standards-based approaches, agencies have the potential to enhance and support processes in their respective land administration systems. To realize this potential, internal and external policies, institutional settings and, technical and financial arrangements need to be reformed. In the short term it is recommended to focus on raising awareness for the widespread adoption of 3D representations in relevant agencies in Delhi.     

Redefining property rights over collective land in the urban redevelopment of Shenzhen,China

Urban development in China is based on two types of land ownership, namely, state land owned by states and collective land owned by village collectives. Legally speaking, urban development must be based on state land. In practice, informal development based on collective land has played important roles in the rapid urbanization process over the past decades. Nonetheless, the vague property rights over collective land have led to inferior and suboptimal development outcomes in expansive urban areas. The redevelopment of collective land has become an important means to sustain urban development in an ongoing urbanization process. By adopting theoretical perspectives from New Institutional Economics, this study presents an integrated conceptual framework on the institutional arrangements of land property rights and transaction costs to understand the changes in land policies and their institutional implications for the redevelopment of collective land in Shenzhen, China. The findings reveal that the new policies have redefined the relationship among the government, village collectives, and real estate developers as well as their property rights over collective land. The change of institutional arrangements in land property rights has significantly reduced the transaction costs in the redevelopment process and effectively promoted land redevelopment activities.     

自然资源资产产权制度改革和体系建设思考

研究目的:梳理自然资源资产产权制度改革实践面临的主要问题,通过理论辨析为改革提供思路和抓手。研究方法:从可持续发展和资源系统观建立了"价值-体制-产权-利用"的递进式分析框架,对产权制度改革的逻辑进行分析。研究结果:产权改革面临6类主要问题,包括产权不完整的持续性、委托代理问题、整体性治理不足、行政管理的路径依赖、市场机制不健全、可持续发展观未普及;同时,从价值目标、体制机制影响、绩效评价闭环三个维度为产权制度改革理念提供了理论阐释。研究结论:自然资源资产产权制度改革可以从5个方面着手推进,包括建构二维产权制度体系、建立新型委托代理关系、推动管制赋权、优化市场与政府关系,以及促进自然资源利用可持续转型等。     

Evaluation of land administration systems

Currently there are no internationally accepted methodologies to evaluate and compare the performance of land administration systems. This is partly because land administration systems are in constant reform, and probably more importantly, they represent societies’ different perceptions of land. This paper describes the development of a framework to measure and compare the performance of land administration systems. The research is of particular relevance since it develops a management model which links the operational aspects of land administration with land policy.     

Understanding value changes in the urban development process and the impact of municipal planning

An urban development process causes spatial changes and changes of associated property rights, and, as a consequence, the value of the property will change as well. This linkage between spatial changes, changes of associated property rights and property values represents an important element in understanding how property values change during the urban development process and the role of municipal planning as a value changing factor in the urban development process. The objective of this paper is to analyse how property values change throughout the urban development process, and further, to discuss the explanations for these changes by comprising the impact of municipal land-use planning. This paper presents a conceptual model showing how property values in urban development areas change during the urban development process and information about the extent to which value increases. The model is directed towards countries with a regulated land use, exemplified by Denmark.     

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.     

A structured framework for 3D cadastral data validation − a case study for Victoria,Australia

There are a wide variety of cadastral objects, ranging from simple 2D entities such as a land parcel, to complex 3D objects such as multistory/multi-owned buildings. The complex infrastructures development happening above and below the ground complicates the processes required for defining rights, restrictions and responsibilities in 3D (3D RRRs). Even in the current, predominantly, 3D analogue cadastral system which relies on 2D drawings and representations, defining 3D RRRs is still a complicated task. With the widespread use of 3D geospatial information technologies, it is increasingly becoming easy to realise and interpret a 3D digital cadastre system. As part of the process of transition from the 2D representation of cadastre towards a 3D digital cadastre, not only will 2D representations be replaced with 3D models, but the examination workflow and its principles also need to be able to manage 3D models. Developing principles and validation rules is a critical requirement to guarantee that the diverse cadastral data is trustable and contains enough detail to define the spatial and legal extents of ownership. This paper proposes a structured framework to define validation rules for 3D cadastral models. The paper’s methodology utilises a case study approach where a plan examination process in Victoria, Australia has been analysed to investigate the principles of examining cadastral plans, and further expanded on for validating 3D digital plans. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the proposed 3D validation rules and proposes future research within the topic of 3D cadastral data validation.     

Pastoralism within land administration in Kenya—The missing link

In land administration (LA), the right to exercising property/ownership rights on land is based on cadastral processes of adjudication, survey and rights registration. Private ownership rights are now being taken up in pastoral areas, where they must contend with pastoralists’ land rights. Pastoral land use requires seasonal migrations determined by climatic conditions. This study aimed to find out how well the existing land laws and property rights in LA are able to serve the requirements of pastoralists land use, identify mismatches and put forward possible solutions. A case study was carried out in the Samburu–Laikipia–Isiolo–Meru landscape in Kenya. Data on the degree of livestock dependency among pastoralist communities, the spatial extent and patterns of dry season migrations, the resulting encounters between herders’ and non-pastoralist land use actors, and the perceptions of land rights held by actors were collected through a variety of methods and analysed. The results show that pastoralism is still active. The migration corridors reveal that herders maintain extensive dry season mobility, even though some of the corridors currently overlap with areas where land is privately owned by non-pastoralist land use actors. Moreover, the results show that most non-pastoralist land use actors have their land rights registered, but seasonal encounters with migrating pastoralists persist as pastoralists continue to exercise customary rights of communal use. We conclude that existing land laws and property rights in LA are suitable for sedentary land use, but do not address how to serve pastoralists land rights in time and space. The pastoralist's migration routes and patterns obtained indicated that it is possible to predict where pastoralists will be at a given time/drought period. This information could be used by decision makers and land administrators to identify where and when pastoralists’ land rights apply. This could provide the foundation for including pastoralists’ spatiotemporal land rights in LA. Arguments emphasize that adjudication, surveys and registration of rights should focus not only on ownership and full control of land, but also on defined periods when spatiotemporal mobility and access rights could be granted to pastoralists.     

Land tenure security for women: A conceptual framework

While strengthening women’s land rights is increasingly on national and international agendas, there is little consensus on how to understand women’s tenure security. Analyses of women’s land rights often use very different definitions of land rights, from formal ownership to women’s management of plots allocated to them by their husbands. This paper identifies aspects of women’s tenure that should be included in indicators. It then provides a conceptual framework to identify the various dimensions of women’s land tenure security and the myriad factors that may influence it. To be able to compare women’s tenure security in different places, we need information on the context, the threats and opportunities facing tenure security, and the action arena that includes both the people who play a role in promoting or limiting women’s tenure security and the resources used in doing so.     

An evaluation framework for earthquake-responsive land administration

In recent years earthquakes and their secondary hazards have claimed the largest number of lives of all large natural disasters. Some of the world’s most earthquake-prone zones are also areas of high population density. The impact is magnified by vulnerability factors including non-enforcement of building codes, knowledge gaps, urban poverty and poor governance capacity to manage and reduce earthquake risks. Poor security of land tenure and property rights increases the vulnerability of people and affects their ability to respond to natural disasters.Earthquake recovery and reconstruction provides very significant challenges for land agencies, with these challenges differing from one country to the next due to differences in the local context. Drawing on contrasting case studies in Haiti, Nepal and New Zealand this paper identifies the common post-earthquake land administration functions and challenges that may apply to many contexts. These lessons provide land agencies and other key stakeholders with a summary of the challenges an earthquake poses for land administration at different post-disaster stages. We also discuss the policy and regulatory, institutional, operational and preparedness lessons for land administration. From these lessons we propose a framework for evaluating the earthquake-responsiveness of a land administration system. This framework can be used by a land agency in an earthquake prone region, or where an earthquake has recently occurred, to assess what challenges to land administration might occur in the event of an earthquake, and the preparedness of their land administration system.     

Spatial Economic Analysis in Data‐Rich Environments

Controlling for spatial effects in micro‐level studies of consumer and producer behaviour necessitates a range of analytical modifications. These range from modest changes in data collection and the definition of variables to dramatic changes in the modelling of consumer and producer decision‐making. This paper discusses conceptual, empirical and data issues involved in modelling the spatial aspects of economic behaviour in data‐rich environments. Attention is given to established and emerging agricultural economic applications of spatial data and spatial econometric methods at the micro‐scale. Recent applications of individual and household data are featured, including models of land‐use change at the urban–rural interface, agricultural land values, and technological change and technology adoption.     

Encountering the state through legal tenure security: Perspectives from a low income resettlement scheme in urban India

Tenure security systems—which determine who lives where and under what terms and conditions—are processes of governance that make and effect the relationship between those who confer tenure security and those on who tenure security is conferred. Yet, in dominant analyses of land and housing tenure security, and in policy recommendations for property rights and legal tenure security in developing countries, governance implications are overlooked in favour of analyses of the relative merits of different tenure systems mainly in terms of security, livelihood and economic impact. Using interview data and observations from a resettlement scheme in Ahmedabad, India, this paper empirically examines citizen-state relations in the context of a major shift from de facto (in practice) to legal tenure security and asks how do citizens who have recently come to live under legal tenure security encounter the state and make sense of it. I find a bureaucracy of tenure security that exerts control over low income citizens largely through fear. However, such control is incomplete and acts of resistance suggest an emerging ‘paralegal’ space to renegotiate tenure rules. I conclude by examining the findings through a conceptual framework that explains the relationship between state power and legal tenure security. I also discuss the need for greater scrutiny of the political effects of urban land and housing tenure systems on poor people.     

2021年土地科学研究重点进展评述及2022年展望 ——土地管理分报告

研究目的：归纳分析2021年国内外土地管理领域研究进展,展望研究趋势。研究方法：文献研究法。研究结果：2021年,国内土地管理领域研究涉及国土空间内涵、中国共产党百年土地史、自然资源资产产权制度改革、农村土地管理法律以及存量低效用地利用等;在国际上,土地权利平等、农田保护、土地信息化管理等问题备受关注;土地制度历史变迁、土地市场管理、土地产权与农田保护是国内外研究共同关注的重点。研究结论：2021年土地管理研究紧扣理论问题与实践需求,在探索国土空间治理基本概念、土地制度历史变迁以及自然资源资产管理等方面取得了进展,但在土地管理基本理论、土地法解释论研究以及土地资源利用关键技术等方面仍有待加强。2022年土地管理领域或将重点关注土地管理基础理论探索、土地要素市场化改革与城乡土地收益分配、自然资源资产产权制度改革和治理体系构建、土地管理专项立法、面向双碳目标与生态保护修复的国土空间用途管控、城乡空间高质量发展、耕地资源长效保护、土地信息化管理等议题。     

完善农用地产权体系的有效途径

农用地产权体系的构建是土地法律制度的核心内容,是解决"三农"问题的关键,是保障农民权利的核心因素。土地的归属关系、利用关系和流转关系是农用地产权体系的三个框架和支柱,科学合理地处理好以上关系是保护农用地权利的有效途径,应明确集体土地所有权主体,确保土地承包经营权的物权性质。