by
Ian Williamson
Chairman, Commission 7 (Cadastre and Land Management)
International Federation of Surveyors
Professor of Surveying and Land Information, Department of Geomatics
The University of Melbourne
(Technical Coordinator for the UN/FIG Bogor Meeting)
(NOTE: Much of the material included in this report is an extract from the Bogor Declaration or is a summary from the report of the meeting)
1. BACKGROUND TO MEETING
The UN Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific held in Beijing in 1994 resolved as follows:
The United Nations with the expert assistance of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and other relevant organisations support the preparation of a regional and global compilation of optional components of a cadastre, including legal aspects, land policy, institutional arrangements, technology and economics.
The preparation of case studies of cadastral systems and cadastral reforms, such that countries of the region engaged in establishing or reforming a cadastre may be aware of various options and learn from the success and failures of others.
Due to the international importance of the subject, the meeting was included in the Habitat II calendar of events entitled "the Learning Years". This activity was also part of the efforts to develop an active response to the problems of land management and environmental protection as stipulated in the Global Plan of Action for Habitat II, and to the recommendations contained in Agenda 21.
As a result, an Inter-Regional Meeting of Experts on Cadastre was held in Bogor, Indonesia from the 18-22 March, 1996. The United Nations worked closely with the Indonesian agency Bakosurtanal and the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) in organising the meeting, and received an important contribution from the Australian Agency for International Development.
The primary objective of the meeting was:
To develop a document setting out the desirable requirements and options for cadastral systems of developing countries in the Asia and Pacific region and to some extent globally.
The meeting recognised that all countries have individual needs and requirements, but that countries at similar stages of development have some similarities in their requirements. As such the meeting primarily examined the requirements of three groups of countries, namely newly industrialised countries such as Indonesia, countries at an early stage of transition such as Vietnam and the South Pacific countries.
The meeting adopted the definition and description of a cadastre as set out in the FIG Statement on the Cadastre. Reference was also made to the two previous UN meetings of cadastral experts (1972 and 1985) and the Land Administration Guidelines prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 1996.
The meeting recognised that the key to a successful cadastral system is one where the three main cadastral processes of adjudication of land rights, land transfer and mutation (subdivision and consolidation), are undertaken efficiently, securely and at reasonable cost and speed, in support of an efficient and effective land market. As such the meeting concentrated on these three cadastral processes to help identify desirable or appropriate options for cadastral systems. In considering the range of options, differences were highlighted for the three major groups of countries identified.
The meeting also recognised that increasingly a successful cadastral system is based on a strong and cooperative working relationship between the government and private sectors. This involves the roles of professionals in private practice, and the roles of professional societies and associations. All discussions attempted to highlight this relationship.
While the meeting focussed on the needs of the Asian and Pacific region, the meeting also considered the requirements of three other groups of countries to a lesser extent—namely the western developed countries, Eastern and Central European countries moving to market economies, and the African states.
Experts and representatives attended from the United Nations, the International Federation of Surveyors, the Indonesian State Ministry for Agrarian Affairs, the Indonesian national Land Agency (BPN), the Indonesian National Coordination Agency for Surveys and Mapping (BAKOSURTANAL) and the following member states, Australia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Peoples Republic of China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
2. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The United Nations has been involved in land administration issues since its inception, and in the early 1950s its Food and Agriculture Organisation published a series of monographs including one on the registration of rights in land. This was written by 1953 by Sir Bernard Binns and published by the FAO. It has recently been revised and reissued. Other notable publications include:
"Land Registration" by Dowson and Sheppard
6th UN Cartographic Conference for Asia and Far East - UN Experts Meeting - 1972
"Land Registration" by R.Simpson and "Cadastral surveys within the Commonwealth" by P.F.Dale - 1976
UN Meeting of cadastral experts - LIS - 1983
FIG Statement on the Cadastre - 1994
UNECE - Land Administration Guidelines -1996
This United Nations meeting noted all previous activity so as not to ‘re-discover the wheel’ and in particular adopted the International Federation of Surveyors’ definition of cadastre as set out in the FIG "Statement on the Cadastre" as the basis for discussion.
3. JUSTIFICATION
Many countries already recognise the need for a cadastral system. Agenda 21 and the HABITAT II Global Plan of Action provide additional justifications for establishing and maintaining appropriate cadastral systems to serve the different needs of nations and their citizens. These justifications are included in detail in the Declaration and are summarised below.
In rural areas secure tenure and the formal recording of rights in land are important: in promoting increased investment in agriculture; for more effective husbandry of the land; for improved sustainable development; to support an increase in GNP through an increase in agricultural productivity; and to provide significant social and political benefits leading to a more stable society, especially where land is scarce or under disputed ownership. In densely populated rural areas or areas of high land value a cadastral system also facilitates the operation of an effective land market at affordable cost and allows an equitable land taxation system to be operated.
This is also true in urban areas where a cadastral system is essential to support an active land and real estate market by permitting land to be bought, sold, mortgaged and leased efficiently, effectively, quickly and at low cost. In addition a parcel based land information system (not necessarily computerised), based on the cadastre, is essential for the efficient management of cities. Cadastral systems permit land and property taxes to be raised thereby supporting a wide range of urban services, and allowing the efficient management and delivery of local government services.
The meeting agreed that the issue is not whether cadastral systems are important and essential, but what is the most appropriate form of cadastral system for each country.
In summary the major reasons for justifying cadastral reform were:
support the development of an efficient land market
improve protection of land rights
support land management and economic development
computerisation
simplification of cadastral processes
4. THE CADASTRAL VISION
The vision of the future shared by the meeting was to:
develop modern cadastral infrastructures that facilitate efficient land and property markets, protect the land rights of all, and support long term sustainable development and land management.
facilitate the planning and development of national cadastral infrastructures so that they may fully service the escalating needs of greatly increased urban populations. These will result from the rapid expansion of cities that is already taking place and which is projected to continue into the 21st century.
To achieve effective sustainable resource management and development for the future world population explosion, simple and effective cadastral structures must be available. These will need to support land use planning, accommodate the greatly increased demand for facilities and resources while ensuring that there is minimum damage to the environment, and be the foundation for the orderly and efficient provision of property markets and the supply of land-related services. They will need to provide simple mechanisms for identifying and protecting property rights, responsibilities and obligations, for recognising land use opportunities and limitations, environmental requirements and constraints, and for permitting consistent and acceptable valuation assessments.
The cadastral infrastructures envisaged for the 21st century will need to adapt to the different patterns and rates of population change. They will therefore vary according to the circumstances and population profiles of different countries. Nevertheless, a common cadastral vision is possible and is indeed essential to the progress of all.
The resulting cadastral infrastructure will facilitate access to land, support security of tenure and allow land rights to be traded, where appropriate, in an efficient and effective way and at affordable cost.
The infrastructure can support a vast array of legal, technical, administrative and institutional options in designing and establishing an appropriate cadastral system, providing a continuum of forms of cadastre ranging from the very simple to the very sophisticated. Such flexibility allows cadastres to record a continuum of land tenure arrangements from private and individual land rights through to communal land rights, as well as having the ability to accommodate traditional or customary land rights.
The cadastre will include all land in a state or jurisdiction, including all state and private lands. It will cover both urban and rural areas within a unified system. Each land parcel will be uniquely identified.
The spatial cadastral framework (usually a cadastral map) will be a fundamental layer within a nation's spatial data infrastructure thereby allowing the integration of different forms of spatial data.
While the vision is applicable in general terms to all countries, it is essential that it is implemented to meet the individual needs and different development priorities of United Nations member countries.
The major components of the vision are that it is:
simple and effective
adaptable to rates and patterns of population change
that it provides access to land, security of tenure, trade land rights
provides a vast array of options
that the cadastre includes all state and private lands
part of spatial data infrastructure
5. DIVERSITY OF NEEDS
The meeting recognised that different countries have different needs for a cadastre at different stages of development. While the basic justifications for cadastral systems are economic development, environmental management and social stability, different countries will place greater importance on different areas at different periods of their development.
Western developed countries that have relatively complete cadastral systems tend to be more concerned with increased efficiency and micro-economic reform. Countries which are moving from a command economy to a market economy are more concerned with the rapid creation of a new system in support of economic development and efficient land markets. Likewise developing countries are concerned with economic growth, the protection of land rights and the reduction of land and boundary disputes. In all countries there is a concern that cadastral systems support social justice.
Due to their different stages of development, different countries have different capacities for the development of cadastral systems. In particular human, technological and financial resources will determine the most appropriate form of cadastral system to meet the needs of individual countries. Thus a simple low cost manual cadastre recording only private ownership rights may be appropriate for one country, while a sophisticated and relatively expensive fully computerised cadastre recording a wide range of ownership and land use rights may be appropriate for another country.
6. CADASTRAL ISSUES
The meeting reviewed a broad range of issues that affect access to land, security of tenure and the management of land resources. While there was great diversity amongst the countries represented, a common concern was the identification of ownership of rights in land, especially rights of occupancy and use.
There can be little security in the buying, selling, mortgaging, inheriting, leasing and renting, and enjoyment of easements over land without the clear identification and recording of rights. Even where documentation has taken place, there is often a separation between ownership rights, usually administered by a central government authority, and use rights, usually recorded and controlled by local authorities. It was noted that in one jurisdiction there were over 120 statutes which could possibly impact on the use of parcels of land.
There is a need to identify clearly what restrictions and obligations relate to any individual land parcel and to simplify access to this information for the land owner or user. This applies to both urban and rural land and to land held in formal and informal tenures. As a result of this issue a recommendation to organise a joint UN/FIG workshop on this topic was put before the 14th United Nations Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific with a resulting agreement to run it in 1999.
The key cadastral issues identified in the meeting included:
clear identification and recording of ownership rights
restrictions and obligations to land
access to land information
recognition of informal tenures
speed and keeping up-to-date
integrate cadastral and land registry systems
cadastral systems not ends in themselves
In particular the meeting recognised that:
The success of a cadastral system is not dependent on its legal or technical sophistication, but whether it protects land rights adequately and permits those rights to be traded (where appropriate) efficiently, simply, quickly, securely and at low cost.
7. THE NEED FOR RE-ENGINEERING SYSTEMS
The meeting recognised that the success of a cadastre is not dependent on its legal or technical sophistication, but whether it protects land rights adequately and permits those rights to be traded (where appropriate) efficiently, simply, quickly, securely and at affordable cost. This requires a focus on the user and landowner as well as the needs of government. As such the meeting focused on the efficiency of the key cadastral processes of land adjudication, land transfer and mutation (subdivision and consolidation).
In order to improve a cadastral system the importance of focusing on the cadastral processes to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies and duplication was recognised. Once the processes have been fully documented and understood it is possible to re-engineer them to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of cadastral services to the user. Such re-engineering often requires changes to legislation, modified institutional and administrative arrangements, and the use of different technologies.
8. CADASTRAL REFORM OPTIONS
The main objective of the meeting was to consider appropriate administrative and technical options for the cadastre to serve the different needs of countries at different stages of development. The meeting considered in general terms administrative options which included land policy, legal, institutional and technical options. In considering all options the meeting took into account economic and human resource issues and the cost of the various options. While considering economic and human resource issues and the cost of different options, options were determined under the following headings:
Land policy options
Legal options
Institutional options
Technical options
In summary, the major observations by the delegates were :
A National Spatial Data Infrastructure should be established to ensure a uniform approach for maximum integration and security of data, effective resource use and the development of a comprehensive land information system.
Topographic and cadastral data bases should be homogenous and uniformly based on the national geodetic network to ensure future data set integration.
Early consideration should be given to the appropriate methodology for the updating and upgrading of all cadastral systems.
9. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
Cadastral reform or improvement has major human, technological and financial resource implications. The meeting noted that some nations have, for example, one university educated professional land surveyor for every 5,000 population. These numbers support a sophisticated computerised cadastral system. On the other hand some countries have as few as one land surveyor for every 100,000 population, even though the cadastre was not complete and was of a more simple design.
Even recognising that the more developed nations may have systems which are more dependent on highly trained professionals, the discussion within the meeting did recognise that human resource issues are one of the major, if not the major, limitation in developing cadastral systems in developing countries.
The meeting identified that inadequate financial resources are a major limitation to improving cadastral systems. It was however noted that cadastral systems do provide governments with an important source of revenue generation but that revenue generation is heavily dependent on maintaining an efficient system.
Human and financial resources were recognised as the major limitations in developing cadastral systems.
10. THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND NGOs
The meeting discussed the trend in many countries towards a more commercial approach to operating cadastral systems and to the increasing use of the private sector where this can be shown to be more cost effective and more productive. In cadastral surveying the use of the private surveyors requires adequate quality control mechanisms to ensure the integrity of the national spatial data archive.
Whereas in many countries this has traditionally been achieved through a system of licensing individual surveyors and conveyancers, and careful scrutiny of their work by government officials, there is a growing trend towards quality assurance and less rigorous government monitoring. In an increasing number of countries, government mapping agencies are themselves being made to compete in the market place and to recover much if not all of their costs.
Semi-privatisation of national mapping agencies has occurred at a time when governments and international agencies such as the United Nations are seeking to make greater use of NGOs. On the global stage organisations such as the International Federation of Surveyors have been collaborating with United Nations agencies while at the national level Institutions or Associations of Surveyors have a role as intermediaries between government and the community and in ensuring the professional standards of practitioners.
11. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following made a major contribution to the Bogor meeting.
Participating member states and delegates
United Nations - Department of Development Support and Management Services (DDSMS)
International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)
Indonesian State Ministry for Agrarian Affairs
Indonesian National Land Agency (BPN)
Indonesian National Coordination Agency for Surveys and Mapping (BAKOSURTANAL)
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)
The University of Melbourne
New South Wales Land Information Centre, Australia
APPENDIX 1 - PROGRAM
The full proceedings are set out in the Report. The program was as follows:
Session 1: Welcoming Addresses
Welcome address by Mr. R.W. Matindas, Organising Committee
Welcome address by Dr Paul Suharto, Bakosurtanal
Opening statement from Ms B. Labonne, United Nations
Welcome address by Professor P. Dale, FIG
Session 2: Introductory Presentations
Overview of conference by Professor I. Williamson
Review of Past Progress by Professor P. Dale
Justification of cadastral systems in developing countries by Prof. I.Williamson
Sessions 3 and 4: Socio-Economic Justification for Land Reforms and Cadastral
Developments: An International Perspective
Session 5: Land Markets and Cadastral Processes
Session 6: Country Reports
New South Wales (Australia)
Victoria (Australia)
Malaysia
Guangdong Province, Peoples Republic of China
Bulgaria
South Africa
Session 7: Country Reports (Continued)
Indonesia
Republic of Korea
Cambodia
New Zealand
Vietnam
Session 8: Country Reports (Continued)
Sweden
Thailand
Philippines
England and Wales
Sessions 9 and 10: Working Group Discussions on Improving the Efficiency and
Effectiveness of Cadastres and Land Markets
Use of the Cadastre to Identify Comprehensive Rights and Obligations
Organisational Needs for Effective Cadastral Administration
Models and Rationale for Limited Occupancy and Use
Session 11: Land Tenure Systems—Formal, Informal and Customary Issues,
Urban and Rural
Session 12: Role of the Private Sector in Cadastral Activities
Sessions 13 and 14: Land Policy, Legal and Institutional Issues
Sessions 15 and 16: Technical Cadastral Issues
APPENDIX 2 - RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were agreed by the meeting and were passed to the 14th United Nations Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific for consideration. As in all the deliberations and outcomes from the meeting, the definition of cadastre as adopted in the International Federation of Surveyors "Statement on the Cadastre" was adopted, which is a broader interpretation than that adopted in some jurisdictions.
To the United Nations
1. To assist in the establishment of inter-regional forums for officials and experts in cadastre and associated forms of land administration with annual meetings to promote cooperation in the exchange of technical knowledge, expertise, education and training.
2. To produce a set of guidelines for cadastre and associated forms of land administration along the lines of those recently produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe but based on a taxonomy of regional needs, for instance with special reference to the practices in South East Asia.
3. To support a workshop to develop a clearer definition of the form and range of land rights and the responsibilities and obligations which attach to land rights specifically within the Asian and Pacific region.
4. To produce a set of guidelines to determine the costs, benefits, risks and value for money of cadastral systems to assist national governments in evaluating support for cadastral projects.
5. To investigate the desirability and feasibility of establishing regional support centres to address the education and training needs of cadastral system managers and related professionals within each region.
6. To encourage the participation of private, national and international funding agencies in supporting investment in improvements to cadastral and land registration systems, especially in developing countries.
7 To use the forthcoming HABITAT II conference to promote the role of cadastres and land registration systems in economic and social development in the debate and deliberation of world leaders.
To national governments
1. To recognise the essential role of land and property in economic development, environmental management and social stability.
2. To recognise that the operation of land markets which rely on a cadastre as basic infrastructure is a significant source of revenue generation. However it should also be recognised that maintaining and increasing such revenue is dependent on improvements to both the surveying and mapping and land registration functions.
3. To recognise the fundamental role that cadastral maps, either in paper or computer form, play in a national spatial data infrastructure. As such it is very important that cadastral surveying and mapping is based on a national geodetic framework common to all spatial data sets thereby permitting the integration of spatial data, particularly topographic data, and supporting the establishment of land and geographic information systems.
4. To recognise the essential and close relationship between cadastral surveying and mapping and land registration in the efficient and effective operation of cadastral systems. While recognising that in some jurisdictions these organisations may be separated, improved efficiency and a reduction in duplication demand an integrated approach to managing and operating the cadastre.
5. To recognise the important linkage between the government, private and educational sectors in establishing and maintaining appropriate cadastral systems.
6. To support the United Nations activities in institutional building and capacity development in the operation of cadastral systems.
7. To strengthen NGOs, and particularly professional organisations and learned societies concerned with cadastral activities in order that they may effectively contribute to the development and maintenance of cadastral systems.
To Non Government Organisations
1. To recognise the important contribution that NGOs can make at both a national and international level in technology transfer and information exchange. NGOs can also play an important mediating role since they usually represent the collective interests of the government, private and/or educational sectors.
2. To increase cooperation with United Nations agencies in collecting and exchanging information on the cadastre, standards in land information, producing guidelines, institutional building and capacity development.
3. To encourage their members to establish educational and research programmes in cadastre and land administration in their national higher educational systems.