Appendix: Country Reports

Each country gave a brief and informal presentation to update the conference on the current status of projects and on current and future issues within their jurisdiction. Brief details of these are shown below. This is an informal record in alphabetical order. Any errors of information and detail are the responsibility of the chair/acting secretary.

Algeria

The National Agency for Cadastre was established in 1989, this is a governmental institution connected to the ministry of finance. Its headquarters is in Algiers with 5 regional offices. The implementation of this project is being given high priority. In 1990 the World Bank awarded US$32m to the project.

The main phases are:

The first study evaluated and discovered the need for new employees but also followed up the needs of existing employees. Ten instructors have been trained and they will continue training throughout the organisation. When established there were 1900 staff, the figure now stands at 2800. The training also included the training of Judges.

Procurement of an aircraft was necessary to avoid previous delays. All equipment required has now been purchased. Field teams consist of 300 brigades each one consisting of a driver and two surveyors. 50% of the urban cadastre had been completed by the end of 1999. The target date for completion of the urban cadastre is 2013.

A target of 11m hectares of rural cadastre has been set for 2008. A GIS system is being introduced to allow the sharing of data between the national agency for cadastre and other government institutions.

Australia

There are many different systems in existence and New South Wales has the largest number of parcels at around 4m polygons

There have been many changes in land administration over the last few years. The Bathurst Declaration has influenced government policy.

Call centres are being established for enquiries relating to the land administration infrastructure. There is a high degree of privatisation whilst the government retails the intellectual rights to mapping and service delivery is carried out by the private sector.

One major issue is data trading and the growing importance of electronic systems such as the Internet/ electronic Conveyancing/e-commerce etc.

The licensing of land surveyors has been reformed.

Austria

There have been no major changes since New Zealand. There has been some discussion about privatising the public offices as budgets are running short. The digital cadastre has now been completed.

Czech Republic

Since 1993 the Land Registry and cadastre have been combined into a single body. The total number of employees currently employed in cadastral administration is almost 600. The digital cadastral map now covers 20% of the country although cadastral data is available for the whole country.

Data are being migrated from the old to the new system with the first stage being the training of employees. A remote access facility is under consideration and an open forum for discussion about cadastral matters has been created with representation from both public and private sectors.

Denmark

The Danish cadastral system is automated and the two existing systems have been merged.
A water planning initiative has been established to address the problem of ground water pollution resulting from the excessive use of nitrate in fertilisers etc. A nitrate quota system is to be introduced. New wet areas are being created to extract nitrates from ground water and areas of land will be set aside for low usage. Compensation will be available for the resultant loss of productivity.

Finland

A new cadastral system (JAKO) was introduced in 1998 that provides seamless databases of maps and related data. There are 800 workstations currently connected to the system.

Developments for 2000:


Greece

The Hellenic Cadastral Project has been established to provide security of land tenure and is now in its 6th year of implementation. Overall responsibility lies with the Ministry of the Environment Two new laws have been passed.
Results to date:
Cadastral surveys:
898,000 hectares
Target:
200,000 by end of 2000

Hungary

A new Land Registry Law introduced on 01/01/2000

A national cadastral programme based on the results of a field survey has been established. Existing maps may be upgraded/converted without the need for a physical survey.

Land Lease registration - There is a requirement to ascertain the percentage of agricultural land that is leased by residents and foreigners. All owners must report the actual use of land. This will help to determine the percentage of agricultural land that is actually used by agriculture.

An administrative area data service for central eastern European countries is in preparation. This service is intended to create administrative boundary maps and to integrate other data attributes, e.g. water, rail, road etc. The target date for completion is the end of 2000.

Jordan

Land Management is based on complete and accurate geo-referenced information

Activity:

DTZ (The German agency for technical co-operation) assisted in the improvement of the geo-referenced information database. The quality of the data has been improved and made available to users.

Main results:

A project exists to convert old paper based maps to a new digital format

The Geodetic Network Transfer project exists to re-observe and transform the coordinate system of the old Palestine grid onto the new Jordanese Transverse Mercator (JTM). The target date for completion is the end of May 2000.

Hong Kong

A slide show outlining developments was presented

Korea

A slide show outlining developments was presented

Luxembourg

The cadastral system is based on registration of land in 1820 and consists of some 1800 A0 sheets using a system of islands.

In 1997 a programme commenced to digitise sheets over a 5yr period. This project is now 80% complete. Maps are in vector format. The link between cadastre and map data will be established in the next two months. All mapping and surveying work is state controlled and a project to privatise the system is under consideration. The registration of contracts with Notaries to allow their use in cadastral systems will begin in 2002.

A pilot project to harmonise topographic map data between Luxembourg, Germany and France is now underway.

Netherlands

The focus has changed to concentrate on electronic conveyancing; this includes the electronic delivery of documents not the electronic registration of title.

A project is underway to allow access to data via Internet type technologies (using an Extranet). There is a trend towards an increase in central government control and a reduction in the autonomy of independent government bodies.

Norway

New legislation on the cadastre is under preparation and there is a general aim to modernisation of existing systems. There is a move from municipal to more private surveyors; the necessary legislation to permit this is ready to be presented to parliament.

A project exists to establish a register of flats. This has been a major issue and the necessary demographic census is now almost complete. A further project aims to introduce new types of land consolidation such as forest conservation. Existing land consolidation is being accelerated.

Poland

A prime ministerial commission for creating a cadastral survey in Poland is expected to be completed this year. The first practical result is a decree by the Minister of Home Affairs and Administration. This takes into account the fact that part of the cadastre is already computerised. Buildings and previous registrations and land rights are to be included in the cadastre.

Poland is in the process of preparation for accession to the European Union

Slovakia

Two databases exist one containing graphical data and the other textual data The first holds details of co-ordinates, polygons etc, the second holds more detailed information about the parcels themselves e.g. area, type, characteristics, owners ship etc.

There are 76 district offices across the country each holding local information; another database exists in the capital, which is based on copies of these local databases although this is not always up to date.

A digitisation project began in 1971 and in 1991 the digitisation of the remainder of the country started when Personal Computers were introduced. Vector maps now cover the whole country although electronic conveyancing has not yet been addressed. Mapping and land registration were merged in 1993. A new cadastral law is scheduled to be enacted in 2001 to transfer control of the 76 regional offices to central government control

Slovenia

The title system is based on the Austro-Hungarian Land Book Model.

The cadastral system is based on one central headquarters and 46 regional offices, the legal system is similar with 44 county courts and a single supreme court.

The Real Estate Modernisation Project is intended to address:


South Africa

The main problems relate to the provision of compensation for land that had been appropriated prior to the abolition of apartheid. Some progress has been made although the amounts of compensation to be paid and the identification of property owners or their descendants have proven difficult. The payment of a standard sum of compensation is being considered.

Sweden

Since New Zealand the market place has developed and an Internet based service has been created. This contains digital photographs which are free of charge and a property register access to which requires payment.

United Kingdom

There have been a couple of developments since New Zealand: