Infrastructure Engineering - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 10
-
ItemBuilding information modelling for urban land administration( 2017)Over the last decades, rapid urbanization has resulted in unprecedented pressure on development and use of land in cities around the world, proliferating multi-storey buildings as well as other urban infrastructure facilities. This means that urban built environments are becoming more and more spatially complex. Urban land administration mainly refers to the information and processes required for recording and managing legal interests in multi-storey building developments, in which a community of owners hold their distinct private, communal, and public legal interests. In multi-storey building developments, the spatial extent of legal interests is often outlined as three-dimensional (3D), invisible, multi-layered and complex volumetric spaces. Currently, urban land administration practices mainly rely on 2D-based analogue subdivision plans to define boundaries of legal interests. These plans are recognized as posing a range of challenges in terms of communicating and managing the spatial complexity associated with various legal interests defined inside and around multi-storey buildings. In response to these challenges, 3D digital models are being investigated as a potential approach for managing complex, vertically stratified legal arrangements. In this research, the feasibility of a widely used 3D modelling approach in the architecture and construction industry – Building Information Modelling (BIM) – was investigated for the 3D digital management of legal interests in multi-storey building developments. BIM provides a common and 3D digital data sharing space, underpinning a reliable basis for facilitating collaboration and decision making over the lifecycle of buildings. However, legal attributes and spatial structure of legal arrangements inside and around buildings are yet to be accommodated within the BIM data environment. Therefore, a range of data elements required for managing legal information has been elicited by investigating current practices pertaining to subdivision of legal interests within multi-storey building developments in Victoria, Australia. An open data model in the BIM domain – Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) – was extended with these legal data elements and a prototype BIM model for a multi-story building development was implemented to demonstrate the viability of the extended IFC data model for 3D digital management and visualization of data related to complex legal arrangements. To validate the extended IFC data model, three assessments were conducted. In the first assessment, land administration experts and IFC specialists reviewed the extended data model in terms of its information completeness and logical validity. In the second assessment, the prototype BIM model was compared with its 2D plan version, and benefits and obstacles of using a BIM-driven approach for urban land administration were discussed. Final assessment includes the comparison between the prototype BIM model, which is an integrated legal and physical model, and its purely legal and purely physical models using some objective metrics. These metrics include number of objects and geometry batches, visualization speed in terms of frame rate, query time, modelling the spatial structure of legal interests, modelling legal boundaries, and visual communication of legal boundaries.
-
ItemTowards 3D-enabled urban land administration: invisible constraints and strategic choices( 2014)In cities around the world, the confluence of myriad factors – including physical constraints of land, affordable housing, the desire for architectural articulation as a status symbol, political platforms that encourage infill development, urbanisation pressures, population growth and sustainability imperatives – serves to stimulate developments with structural and functional designs that produce ever more complex land and property rights, restrictions and responsibilities (RRRs). Of great concern are those RRRs associated with high-rise buildings as they become adopted for residential purposes and are set to be the dominant urban form. Complex RRRs are often abstract cognitive concepts. The extent of these RRRs exist as invisible volumes of (3D) space whose legal definition relies on paper-based plans using areabased (2D) concepts. The limitations of these current practices are becoming apparent – there is growing recognition, concern and evidence that complex 3D RRRs are not being clearly recorded and represented. Accurate, unambiguous and comprehensible information about land and property RRRs plays a key role in every society, least of which is to underpin well-functioning land markets as a pillar of national and global economies; it is also the foundation of land administration systems. To provide more proficient land and property systems better able to deal with such complexity, the land registration industry, which produces, registers and manages RRRs, is at a crossroad: how to negotiate change to leverage 3D technological innovations. To date, a tendency to focus on technical developments has left unattended the social and cultural – institutional – issues that are fundamental to successful innovation. Yet throughout the history of innovation, these are the very issues consistently found to lie at the heart of progress. As such, no jurisdiction has yet to successfully implement 3D innovations for representing property ownership. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap. It documents an exploratory study that aims to develop understanding of institutional issues in the context of urban land administration as an important precursor to facilitating the development of strategies to support change. This study uses a multiple case study approach: two interpretive case studies were undertaken as studies into key land administration functions that support urban high-rise development, before findings to the research questions were developed through cross-case analysis and synthesis. The City of Melbourne provided the context for understanding institutional barriers to change relevant to regulatory subdivision and registration processes, while the city-state of Singapore provided the context for understanding institutional aspects of strategies perceived to be successful in inducing conformity to 3D innovation relevant to regulatory development processes. Data was collected through several channels including interviews, organisational documents and publicly available materials, industry placement programs and participant observation. Institutional theory provided a framework for conceptualising and analysing the range (and basis) of institutional issues around changing longstanding 2D practices in a regulated, multi-stakeholder environment. Thematic analysis of the data supported the emergence of key themes that directly responded to the research objectives. The research revealed that resistance to change is essentially associated with a limited build up of legitimacy around the need for change, a consequence of history serving to consolidate and deeply-embed current 2D-based practices, conditioning industry, organisations and professions to accept this as ‘appropriate’ behaviour. This undermines the ability to build the requisite legitimacy to compel and motivate change towards a 3D-based land and property paradigm, a fundamental requirement of institutional change. This is perceived to be immensely difficult to shift. Yet the research also revealed that it is possible to shift these seemingly intractable institutional issues if the appropriate institutional pressure is exerted. The findings indicate that the characteristics of the land administration industry, such as dependency on the state for regulatory approval and the clear dominance of professions, are likely to be responsive to strategies that exert coercive and normative institutional pressure as a way of inducing conformity to change. Most importantly, the research showed that change was possible in a reasonable timeframe if sufficient legitimacy was cultivated around the reasons for change. However, visible, incisive leadership is then required to direct this into clear actions to make change a reality. Consequently, one of the key outcomes of the research has been to use the findings derived from cross-case analysis and synthesis to develop a framework of strategic institutional principles that is intended to guide key decision-makers in designing a change path. Cultivation of legitimacy around 3D innovation must necessarily be a first principle in any roadmap designed to support the realisation of 3D-enabled urban land administration.
-
Item3D cadastral visualisation: understanding users’ requirements( 2014)Population growth and reduced availability of land are common challenges in urban areas and lead to intensive property development. These developments extend both above and below ground such as high-rise buildings and infrastructure. For these developments, ownership rights are defined using many types of rights, restrictions, and responsibilities (RRRs). The increasing complexity of multi-level developments and infrastructure exacerbates the challenge inefficiently registering RRRs within land registries, which existing two dimensional (2D) cadastres are only partly able to do. In current cadastral systems, these RRRs are represented using 2D building plans, cross-sections, isometric diagrams and textual descriptions in a paper (or PDF) format. This paper-based method of representation is inefficient in various ways. For example, this method makes it difficult for non-specialists to understand ownership boundaries. Furthermore, representing ownership rights in high-rises and complex developments needs numerous floor plans and cross-sections which are not easy to interpret. In addition, as these plans are recorded in paper or PDF files, queries and analysis are not possible. Therefore, there is a need for more effective and efficient representation of RRRs to support registration and understanding of RRRs in complex developments. 3D visualisation can help people better understand 3D ownership information particularly in complex high-rises. To design and develop efficient 3D visualisation applications, there is a need for identifying 3D cadastral visualisation requirements. The research problem underpinning this study is therefore: visualisation requirements to support the development of 3D cadastral applications to represent rights, restrictions and responsibilities have not been clearly identified. An agreed set of requirements will support the development of visualisation applications designed to meet users’ needs. To address the research problem, this research identified detailed 3D visualisation requirements using a requirements engineering approach to support efficient representation of ownership RRRs. These requirements were classified into data requirements, user interface and system requirements, non-functional requirements, visualisation requirements, and analytical requirements. The validation of requirements included development of two prototypes based on user requirements and gathering experts’ feedback using two questionnaires. Implementation of prototypes for representing RRRs, and the feedback on these, established the validity and priority of the requirements.
-
ItemThe spatial dimensions of native title( 2000-08)The importance currently placed on sustainable development recognises the fundamental role of land administration and the management of land based resources. This acknowledgement of the pivotal role of land administration and tenure security reinforces the need to recognise all interest and responsibilities in land, particularly those of a customary and traditional nature. The United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Pritchard 1998) respects the unique relationship between indigenous people(s) and the land, recognising the need to protect these traditions and cultures. A number of countries (specifically the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand) have implemented legal and institutional mechanisms for the recognition of this unique relationship and connection to land. In doing so it provided the precedent for the recognition of interests in land as held by indigenous peoples of Australia. In Australia the legal recognition of indigenous interests in land occurred in 1992, with the passing of the High Court’s decision concerning Mabo and others v the State of Queensland (no.2) (1992) 175 CLR 1 and the subsequent development and implementation of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). This federal act provides for the recognition and protection of native title within the framework of the Australian legal system . Its (native title interests) origins and foundations are those of traditional laws, connecting indigenous Australians with land and waters (S223 NTA 1993). (For complete abstract open document)
-
ItemPrinciples for an integrated land administration system to support sustainable development( 2002-03)This thesis aims to investigate what principles should guide the development of land administration infrastructures to adequately address the governance needs of evolving rights, restrictions and responsibilities between government, corporate bodies, community groups and individuals to better support sustainable development objectives. (For complete abstract open document)
-
ItemUsing land administration for land risk management( 2013)The impact of risk and disaster events on land and property within the developed world in the last decades has highlighted a significant problem in the ability of citizens and governments to address and respond to these threats. A breakdown in the process of identifying, analysing, evaluating and treating these risks has occurred, leaving communities exposed and vulnerable to a range of very real risk possibilities. The integration of land administration information and risk management processes is considered essential for achieving effective land risk management practices and community resilience for risk events. However, in most countries, land administration and risk management are usually disparate disciplines. This research addresses this problem with the overall aim of facilitating improved risk management of land and property for all stakeholders. This research investigates how land administration could support the process of managing risk to land and property for a range of stakeholders. Its primary objective is to develop a land risk management model which illustrates how these two elements, land administration and risk management, could be integrated to enable the implementation of effective land risk management practices by all stakeholders and to facilitate the development of a resilient community. A mixed methods research design was utilised which included the use of a case study approach focusing on developed countries with established land administration systems. The research developed: an understanding of the issues which impact upon the ability of land administration agencies to contribute to land risk management as well as the factors which motivate them to participate; an understanding of the stakeholder roles and responsibilities in the process of land risk management; and finally, a land risk management model which illustrates a ‘to be’ situation for how land administration could support land risk management if the issues and factors identified were addressed. The model is realised as a prototype system which demonstrates how land administration information can facilitate the effective implementation of land risk management processes and strategies. This research goes beyond the disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management strategies which have emerged from the integration of traditional disaster management models with the process of risk management. In these new models, only specific elements of the risk management process are incorporated and the focus remains largely on the response and recovery elements. This research focuses more heavily on the entire risk management process and all of the elements within the model and is applied specifically to the problem of risk affecting land and property and how this risk can be managed. Applying more attention to the risk management process enables the development of a more resilient community through thorough identification, acknowledgement, assessment and treatment of risks affecting land and property. The integration of land administration facilitates the process enabling stakeholders to better understand the risks which affect their land and property through a user centred view. The study concludes that the current land risk management processes are not sufficient and that improvements are required to achieve community resilience to risk events. The findings reveal that land administration systems have the potential to support land risk management practices and have significant motivational factors however changes to policy, legal, institutional and technical arrangements are first required. It is expected that land risk management initiatives will continue to be high profile issues as climate change brings more frequent and severe weather events. The success of future community resilience will therefore rely heavily on improved management processes for managing risk to land and property through the utilisation of land administration information and engagement of all stakeholders.
-
ItemA collaborative framework to support a national land information infrastructure in Australia( 2013)As a federated country, Australia’s land administration systems are state and territory based. These systems record information pertaining to land ownership, land tenure, land use and land valuation and have supported, and continue to support, the requirements of the respective states and territories. Australia’s federated system of government however has evolved since federation in 1901. Many responsibilities that were previously the sole responsibility of the state and territory governments are now shared with the Australian Government. To support policy development and operational requirements for issues such as climate change, water management, fiscal and monetary policy, the Australian Government now needs access to this jurisdictional based land information. An increasing number of businesses operating nationally also often require access to this key land information. This has created a situation where considerable duplication of effort is occurring as a result of many Australian Government departments and agencies individually acquiring land information from the respective jurisdictions to meet their particular requirements. Given the effort to conflate the information, issues relating to data currency, quality and consistency become apparent. A national approach to service the requirements of national users of land information such as the Australian Government is required. The jurisdictional based land administration systems however potentially provide a sound basis on which to build a national land information infrastructure. All have taken advantage of the available technologies over the past decade to move to on line service delivery and are delivering effective services within their respective jurisdictions. What is now needed is a collaborative national framework that can build on the jurisdictional achievements to deliver a national approach to land administration information and services. This thesis considers the drivers for a national land information infrastructure within the context of Australia as a federated country and the main elements of the collaborative framework necessary to deliver this national view of land information. The key success factors necessary to implement and sustain this framework are identified through a number of case studies involving collaborative ventures both in Australia and overseas. The key success factors identified through the research are: • The existence of a major client / investor• Active jurisdictional support• A shared understanding of the problem and the desired outcome• An extensive monitoring and review process• A commitment to standards Using these key success factors as a guide, a framework for a collaborative national land information infrastructure for Australia is proposed.
-
ItemLand administration for macroeconomic management( 2012)Land markets contribute significantly to economic growth. Land administration provides the infrastructure for secure land market transactions. Government macroeconomic policies work to manage the economy as a whole. As new land markets develop, there is an increasing need for better, more reliable information for improved economic management of land and its resources. The focus of land administration research has largely been on creating tenure information and registration for the security of land rights. Creating data products has also seen significant motivation. However, not much attention has been given to the potential of this authoritative land information to be used for other economic activities, and the user needs from this perspective. This is of growing concern as new land markets in resources like carbon and water emerge. The growing international focus on sustainable development, natural systems and ‘green’ economies has shown the utility of biomimicry. Biomimicry, a principle of natural capitalism, uses nature as a model, to study and design real-world systems that emulate the efficiency, sustainability and diversity of processes in nature. The ethos provides an innovative approach for studying land administration systems as information ecologies, and an opportunity for land administration to better service macroeconomic management. This research initiates with a review of current literature within the disciples of land administration, macroeconomics, sustainable development and the impact of natural capitalism. Following this, a conceptual model that links the above disciplines is presented. The model proposes a land market information flow lifecycle as the ideal situation for achieving synthesis between land administration information and macroeconomic management, and forms the hypothesis of this research. A robust research design and methodology to test the hypothesis is developed and justified. This involves qualitative case studies of state-based real property, carbon and water markets in three Australian states: Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. The case studies help to evaluate the current situation and identify areas of the model that are currently not functional. The results also work to test the validity of the model and judge whether this representation of an ideal outcome is realistic or needs to be altered. A refined land market information flow lifecycle, with 31 principles to achieve a functional link between land administration and macroeconomic management, is triangulated from the results. The refined model is tested for its operation by showing its implementation on the case study states. The implementation shows the importance of each stage of the lifecycle. Achieving all recommended principles can establish synthesis between land administration information and macroeconomic policy making. However one dysfunctional stage can undermine the operation of the entire lifecycle. Additionally, a demonstrator 3D Property Market Tool is presented to show how spatial intelligence can be added to fiscal and monetary policy decisions. Such decision-aiding applications are possible if authoritative market information derived from a dynamic land market information flow lifecycle is achieved. The final chapter of this thesis summaries the research and major contributions of this work. The land market information flow lifecycle establishes an operational link between government land administration and macroeconomic policy agencies. It is the first of its kind to link the disciplines of land administration and macroeconomic management through information supply and demand; based on the principles of natural capitalism and the need for sustainable development of land and resource markets. However, this thesis does not claim to fully solve the problem of holistic land information infrastructures. Suggested further research areas are presented to help build on this work. These include investigations into other drivers for authoritative land information and a dissemination framework to help make the land market information flow lifecycle a reality. Research into incorporating informal land rights and rights in other complex commodities into a holistic land information infrastructure are also suggested to follow from this work.
-
ItemLand administration for housing production( 2012)The integration of land administration processes and the collaboration of land and housing agencies are considered essential for the effective delivery of developable land for housing production. However, in most countries, housing and land management, policies are usually split between multiple government agencies. Existing literature suggests that the activities of governments’ agencies that perform these functions are disparate and lack harmonisation. This research investigates the inter-relationship across land administration functions (land tenure/registration, land value, land use and land development) and between different levels of government in the management and delivery of land for housing production. It aims to develop and evaluate a Land Administration Integration Framework for Housing (LAIFH) to improve inter-agency collaboration with a view to help facilitate better land delivery for housing. The methods include the use of a case study approach and focus on the federated case countries of Nigeria and Australia. The research developed: a Conceptual Framework that provided a comprehensive approach to understanding the current relationship between land administration and housing production; an Inter-agency Integration Assessment Framework (IIAF) in the context of housing production to assess levels of integration; and finally, a Land Administration Integration Framework for Housing (LAIFH) as a strategy to improve the administration of land and inter-agency integration. The development of the IIAF was underpinned by the Conceptual Framework. The parameters for the development of the IIAF were identified from various past studies. This was in parallel with the structured interviews conducted. By adopting Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Paired Samples (T-Test), this study used the Inter-agency Integration Assessment Framework, as developed, to determine the levels of integration among agencies responsible for land administration. By using Structural Equation Model with Partial-Least Square, as adopted tools, it was possible to verify the reliability of the assessment framework. The findings, through the application of Inter-agency Integration Assessment Framework, showed that the optimal levels of inter-agency integration varied from one organisation to the other. This reflected the priority and the interest of each organisation. Based on the observed level of inter-agency interactions, relative to what was desired, an innovative improvement strategy (Land Administration Integration Framework for Housing) was proposed. The improvement framework included the development of a collaborative process. The collaborative process considered the contextual factors that affect ownership rights and a linked process for determining development rights. The link between the collaborative process and the contextual factor is required to analyse efficient land delivery. The demonstrators: housing development potential analysis and visualisation, and the analysis of development assessment approval provided, as examples, context for the application and evaluation of the integration framework to facilitate the delivery of land for housing. The study concluded that policies are not sufficiently informed by evidence and that due to disconnect between agencies; policies formulated do not encourage integrated processes among land and housing agencies. The processes did not sufficiently drive the type of data that was collected. It recommends that managing land for housing production should follow the principles of evidence-informed policy, policy-based processes and process-driven data.
-
ItemProperty rights, restrictions, and responsibilities: their nature, design, and management( 2007)This research is composed of four broad sections: introduction, background, research and conclusions. The introductory phase describes the research problem and aim. It asserts that property rights, restrictions and responsibilities over land are designed and administered in a disparate, ad hoc and disorganized fashion which makes achieving sustainable development objectives difficult, if not impossible. This thesis aims to develop a framework for organizing the management of property rights, restrictions and responsibilities in a way that enables the achievement of sustainable development objectives by citizens and governments. The background section explores the problem more deeply. First, it looks back to the root causes: a diverse range of drivers including environmentalism, free market economies and social equity are producing legislative and policy sprawl. Second, it looks at the limitations of current attempts to overcome the problem: traditional land administration tools are being bypassed, small ad hoc legal and technical solutions are favoured and only limited holistic approaches exist. Third, the background section investigates the emerging tools being applied to the problem: ontological design, social learning, SDI and spatial technologies, uncertainty theory and new funding models could all profoundly influence the management of land interests. The research section uses the contextual understanding to develop, justify and execute a robust research design. The hypothesis articulates that expanding the existing land administration systems with new tools and principles would enable better management of property rights, restrictions and responsibilities and consequently assist the achievement of sustainable development objectives by citizens and government. A mixed methodology involving both qualitative and quantitative studies is required to test the hypothesis. Additionally, top-down (government) and bottom-up (parcel) perspectives are also used. The sheer size of the legislative sprawl (Federal – 514 statutes, State – 620 statutes, Local – 7 statutes) and the administrative effort required to manage it is exposed at all levels of government. However, amongst the tangle of bureaucracy, pockets of very well managed, automated and spatially integrated land interests is uncovered. Additionally, the underutilized potential of the cadastre and existing registry to manage ‘some’ interests is identified. The bottom-up case studies provide a detailed insight into the effect of old and new land interests on individual parcels. The historical complexities of existing cadastral and registration systems and their deficiencies are also clear. Together, the results from these equally weighted case studies are used to test the appropriateness of the hypothesis, and generate components of an updated land administration toolbox, one capable of managing all interests in land. The conclusions section synthesizes the results and develops the ‘RRR Toolbox’ and ‘Property Object’ concept. The ‘RRR Toolbox’ includes eight components: policy, legal, tenure, institutional, cadastral and registration, spatial and technology, capacity and emerging tools. If a jurisdiction wishes to coherently manage its land rights, restrictions and responsibilities, then each of the eight components needs to be addressed and acted upon. The ‘Property Object’ is defined as an advanced descriptive framework of the key attributes (objective, action, spatial extent, people impacted, duration) that make up an individual property interest. The property object permits holistic treatment of all property interests, from ownership down to simple access powers, and also enables meaningful contrast between different interests. Together, the ‘RRR Toolbox’ and ‘Property Object’ provide new and innovative perspectives on the research aim. The results of the case studies reveal the hypothesis to be a point of truth. Together the concepts help to deliver sustainability objectives. However, this thesis does not claim to fully solve the problem: more work on each of the toolbox components and their implementation in different jurisdictions identified is required.