Cadestal

Development of Land Information and Cadastral Application Systems

1. Introduction

1.1 Importance of cadastral records and land information systems

* access to and use of land are fundamental to life as we know it... food, fiber, habitation, recreation, and so forth

* land parcel is the basic unit for access and control of land, land use decisions

* current, reliable land information necessary for many public programs, for example:

* land planning

* infrastructure development and maintenance,

* environmental protection and resource management

* emergency services

* social service programs

* and so forth

* basis for land markets, development, and other economic activity

1.2 GIS issues in land records

* relating "legal" description of property to coordinate-based systems

* ambiguous or overlapping boundaries

* complex attribute relations

* public access

2. Definitions

2.1 Cadastre

* broad context -- description of legal and fiscal interests in land

* typical context -- land ownership records

* Legal cadastre - parcel-based description of interests or rights in real property; typically supported by titles or deeds, and registry.

Functions of a legal cadastre:

* define property rights (often in conjunction with formal and case law)

* describe the extent (spatial, sometimes temporal) of property rights

* support land transfer

* provide evidence of ownership (e.g., using land as collateral)

* program administration (e.g., enforcement of laws, targeting of incentives)

* public land management

* Fiscal cadastre - property valuation and land taxation.

Functions of fiscal cadastre:

* information base for property taxation

* distribution of funds from public programs

* monitoring and supporting land markets

* information for growth management and land use planning

2.2 Land information system (LIS)

*...