Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemNew roles of land administration systems( 2007)This paper sketches the key issues in the history of land administration in terms relevant to the experiences of countries in the Asia Pacific Region. It is a first step in building a national land administration vision and is influenced by empirical research on European and Australian approaches. The vision is especially influenced by three trends in global land administration theory and practice, especially during the last five years and include: sustainable development; spatial enablement; and theoretical achievements in land administration.The challenges for modern land administration systems and in modern government are presented including the roles of land administration in formalizing land markets, implementing and understanding regulations and restrictions, and changing the nature of ownership. The role of spatial enablement and understanding the potential of iLand, the concept of integrated spatially enabled land information available on the Web, are central to understanding the national vision for land administration in Australia. Finally, future directions within technical and operational issues and collaboration and capacity building are presented to assist creation of a new land management model and national vision for spatially enabled land administration by countries in the APR.
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ItemBuilding land markets in the Asia Pacific region( 2007)Land markets attract wide participation, all over the globe. Market activities receive intense analysis from economists and bankers, investors and developers, and they interest millions of people. Meanwhile, how to build a land market remains a mystery. Those countries that achieved effective modern land markets have the benefit of well run land administration systems. These systems therefore offer the key to building a market. The problem is that building land administration capacity does not always assist the creation and management of a successful land market. There are two explanations for this. First the complexity of a formal land market is not well understood. Second the different kinds of land administration infrastructures that are needed to support land markets as they develop from simple land trading into complex commodity markets need to be identified and implemented. These issues are explored below. The perspective of this exploration is that of an engineer interested in designing, building and managing the infrastructure needed to support modern land markets.
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ItemSpatially Enabling Government – an International Challenge( 2007)The popular use of spatial technologies involves showing images and tracking assets and inventory in an increasing array of instruments, the most common being the ubiquitous mobile phone. These technologies penetrate into even low income poor countries, but their take-up and development concentrates in highly developed countries. This high-end use of these technologies will determine their future. Remarkable as these popular applications are, spatial technologies can also be used in even more dynamic, transformational ways. Transformational use of spatial technologies occurs when they are used to improve business processes of government, and assist delivery of policies for equitable taxation, conservation of natural resources and planning for rational growth. Use of this transformational capacity of spatial technologies in government creates a spatially enabled government (SEG). The major impediment to take-up of spatial information is counter-intuitive. We all use the new technology in our daily lives, but our capacity to understand the power of spatial information is remarkably small. In fact only about 1% of people in any society really understand spatial information with about 5% of people knowing something about the special technology. For 95% of people, spatial information and its supporting technologies is a mystery. Teaching people about spatial information and its technologies is therefore the first task in painting a vision of what is possible. The attractions of spatial technologies lie in how they present information, whether users rely on computers and the Internet, or on communications technologies. The adage of a “picture tells a thousand words” is now out of date. New digital pictures tell many stories, and, if the enabling platform is built, the pictures will become management tools of government. Spatial technologies are moving quickly. In Australia, since October 2006, Google Maps and Google Earth, combined with a geocoded national address
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ItemA new vision on cadastral data model( 2006)Land administration systems are evolving towards an integrated land management paradigm designed to support sustainable development. In this paradigm, land administration delivers four functionalities: land mapping, land registration, land valuation and land development, each with specific data elements, with the cadastral data model at the core. Cadastral data modelling potentially plays a key role in both data and business management in modern land administration systems. However, some modifications to existing data models could potentially improve their capacity to deliver sustainability. Firstly, the existing role of land parcels and properties as core building blocks in land administration systems can be significantly extended to make the cadastral fabric available to assist management of a wider range of rights, restrictions and responsibilities by using the concept of legal property objects: an entity defined by a law or regulation which relates to a physical space on, below or above the earth. This can be interpreted as a new land related commodity, land parcel or a property. Secondly, although land parcel and property identifiers are key elements of interoperability within land administration subsystems, the paper argues that they have not yet given appropriate emphasis in cadastral data models. Among the identifiers, spatial identifiers can potentially simplify data exchange and work flows among land administration functionalities on a much wider basis. Finally, the paper discusses technical issues raised by changing the cadastral model: the advantages and disadvantages of spatial identifiers, possibilities for spatially presenting rights restrictions and responsibilities, and consistency between various legal property objects.
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ItemSpatially Enabling Governments: A New Vision for Spatial Information(United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific, 2006)
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ItemToward e-land administration : Australian online land information services( 2005)Sustainable development (SD) is accepted as a central driver in countries world wide with land administration playing an important role in delivering SD objectives. Within this context the emerging use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly being utilised by land administration organizations. These technologies provide opportunities for better service delivery and customer satisfaction and a reduction in operating costs. However establishment of these systems as part of e-land administration and in the context of e-government has to date not been fully realised and is often problematic.E-land administration includes the coordination among various parts of land administration businesses including front office operations like online customer services and private partnership services, and also back office operations like internal work flow and central data base management. The first step in improving the current systems within a particular jurisdiction is assessing the current performance of online land information services as part of e-land administration.There are various initiatives to deliver land related information over the Internet for the public in the different Australian states. Analysing these experiences and determining good practice will assist in proposing effective and innovative solutions to improve or re-engineer the existing services as a key infrastructure for implementing e-land administration services.This paper first introduces and discusses various quality of service criteria for the assessment of an online land information system. The criteria include popularity, performance, functionality and user requirements of services. The paper then reviews and presents current land administration services in Australian states including a statistical analysis to better understand the advantages and deficiencies of current services. The results are assessed and suggestions are proposed for improving on
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ItemIntegrated land administration in Australia : the need to align ICT strategies and operations( 2005)A modern Land Administration System consists of four key functions: land tenure, land valuation, land use and land development. The integration of these functions and associated land information are essential if we are to achieve sustainability objectives and a more efficient property development process. Historically many countries have divided up their key functions; the advent of information and communication technologies [ICT] offered the possibility of integration. Current research suggests that land administration functions have resisted integration, despite technological advancements. This paper analyses such findings by considering the land administration functions of Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. It considers each state’s spatial-mapping and registry functions at a strategic and operational level. Particular attention has been given to ICT policy and operations. The study suggests that many factor shave obstructed integration, including historical backgrounds, politics and disparate organizational cultures have all played a role. Another important factor has been the failure to align the ICT strategies and operations of the different functions: land registries have tended to view technology as supporting core operations rather than core strategy. Conversely, spatial-mapping units see ICT as fundamental to operations and strategy: not only has ICT enhanced traditional practice, but it has also allowed for the creation of new products and services. It is argued that in order to achieve further integration, Land Administration functions must align their perception and use of ICT. Shared leadership, integrated ICT infrastructures and government mandates will assist this alignment.
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ItemA vision for spatially informed land administration in Australia( 2005)Research to incorporate sustainable development objectives into an information communication technology (ICT)enabled land administration system (LAS) began with the task of defining an emerging vision for spatial information. Incommon with European countries which enjoy mature LAS (Switzerland, Denmark, The Netherlands and Germany),Australian LAS could benefit from the spatial enablement of land information, following the model of the spatiallyenabled geocoded national address file (GNAF). Specific instances include opportunities for more comprehensiveinformation about restrictions over land, remodelling the Torrens system into a modern land information system, andcreating national land information systems.Transition from the existing infrastructure of LAS to the new model requires selective borrowing from experiences particularly in the European Union and USAnew models of information sharingcapacity to anticipate developments in technology in location enablement and spatial identificationbuilding on Australia's capacity to create opportunities for government and the private sector in using spatialinformation in the ICT environment.
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ItemTransferring our knowledge and systems: tenure formalisation( 2005)Land administration systems are key infrastructure for national growth. They deliver macroeconomic growth, allow greater market integration, provide security of tenure and investments, and increase the capacity to deliver welfare. However, land administration systems supporting these activities are complicated and limited. While advanced tools and principles may be borrowed by countries building local land markets, every situation requires innovative solutions in response to the unique and dynamic land administration environment. Project designs must capture a wide range of people to land relationships and different socio-environmental circumstances. An investigation of different people to land and natural resource arrangements was conducted in a development scenario. Case study investigations took place in three rural villages in Cambodia undergoing different stages of land administration project implementation. These studies revealed a wide set of indispensable informal tenure arrangements outside the design scope for providing formal tenure security. From 1990 to now, land projects design emphasis has moved from technological to institutional criteria. Further design change is still required, especially to deliver sustainability and social development. In particular land administration systems used in development scenarios must approach formalization of land tenure with more innovative approaches. This may also require an expansion of tenure security options beyond those currently included in formal systems. Formalised Western skills may be advantageous for delivering some services, but they must be complimented by a holistic understanding of local culture and capacity.
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ItemIntegrated land administration in Australia: the need to align ICT strategies and operations( 2005)A modern Land Administration System consists of four key functions: land tenure, land valuation, land use and landdevelopment. The integration of these functions and associated land information are essential if we are to achievesustainability objectives and a more efficient property development process. Historically many countries have dividedup their key functions; the advent of information and communication technologies [ICT] offered the possibility ofintegration.Current research suggests that land administration functions have resisted integration, despite technologicaladvancements. This paper analyses such findings by considering the land administration functions of Victoria, WesternAustralia and New South Wales. It considers each state'sspatial-mapping and registry functions at a strategic andoperational level. Particular attention has been given to ICT policy and operations. The study suggests that many factorshave obstructed integration, including historical backgrounds, politics and disparate organizational cultures have allplayed a role. Another important factor has been the failure to align the ICT strategies and operations of the differentfunctions: land registries have tended to view technology as supporting core operations rather than core strategy.Conversely, spatial-mapping units see ICT as fundamental to operations and strategy: not only has ICT enhancedtraditional practice, but it has also allowed for the creation of new products and services. It is argued that in order toachieve further integration, Land Administration functions must align their perception and use of ICT. Sharedleadership, integrated ICT infrastructures and government mandates will assist this alignment.