Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemThe Nature of Regional Spatial Data Infrastructures( 1999)Today, more than ever, it is important to look beyond our national boundaries. The world as we know it ischanging. Economies worldwide are undergoing a process of profound and continuing structural change,and the global village is becoming a reality driven by information and communication technologies.With this background, many countries throughout the world believe they can benefit both economically andenvironmentally from better management of their spatial information by taking a perspective that starts at alocal level and proceeds through state, national and regional levels to a global level. This has resulted in thedevelopment of the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) concept at these levels, with the National SDI andGlobal SDI receiving much attention.While there is increasing interest being given to Regional SDIs, such as promoted by the PermanentCommittee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) and the European UmbrellaOrganisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI), and a recognition that these Regional SDIs willpromote economic development and environmental management within these regions, the concept andjustification of Regional SDI is still not clear. The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of RegionalSDI and its benefits. Moreover, the paper will review the difficulties inherent in RSDI development and willsuggest some factors for the success of a RSDI initiative.
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ItemThe spatial dimension of Aboriginal land tenure( 1999)The unique relationship Aboriginal peoples have with the land has been highlighted in recent years with the passing of the Native Title Act 1993. The vastly different characteristics of Aboriginal land tenure to the Australian Torrens systems makes it difficult for the integration of the two tenure systems into one land registration system. A better understanding of Aboriginal land tenure and associated boundary definition is a vital first step towards mapping and documenting boundaries for the purposes of resolving native title disputes and developing institutional infrastructures that can better address the duality of tenure systems. Aboriginal land tenure boundaries have been mapped in the past by various anthropologists and historians. Mapping and definition of Aboriginal land boundaries by 'surveyors' are likely to provide alternative ways in which native title boundaries are determined, offering a different perspective on the spatial extent of Aboriginal land tenure. There is a need to accurately and unambiguously define the spatial extent of native title within the Australian cadastral system to support land based infrastructure and the future of native title. The paper highlights: • The characteristics and similarities/differences between the two tenure systems in a spatial context; • The current methods employed in defining and mapping Aboriginal land tenure boundaries and the appropriateness for the purpose of native title determination; • Possible ways in which Aboriginal land tenure could be defined and mapped in the future; and • Possible incorporation of Aboriginal land tenure into the current land administration and land registration systems of Australia.
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ItemLand administration and cadastral trends: the impact of the changing humankind-land relationship andmajor global drivers( 1999)This paper is the first part of a two-part series that overviews past trends in thedynamic humankind-land relationship and considers what current trends andglobal drivers could mean for future land administration and cadastral systems.The aim of this paper is to discuss some of the current forces of change on thehumankind/land relationship and why an increasingly integrated approach toland administration and management is imperative. An overview of the pastforces of change on land administration is discussed to demonstrate the dynamicnature of the humankind/land relationship. Particular attention is given to majorglobal drivers such as sustainable development, globalization, economic reformand the information technology revolution. The potential impact of these currentforces (particularly sustainable development), on the institutional, legal, politicaland technological frameworks of a nation, is discussed. New Zealand, which hasundergone considerable economic and legislative reforms since the mid-1980s, isused as an illustration of trends and the imperative for a more integratedapproach to land administration across those frameworks
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ItemThe effect of adverse possession to part of a future Australian cadastre( 1999)In accord with modern cadastral principles, a comprehensive land informationmanagement system should ideally disclose the complete legal status of all land withthe disclosure of all public and private rights and restrictions, including rightsacquired under adverse possession. Recognizing trends to develop national spatialdata sets, if a national cadastre founded upon these data sets is ever to be considered,a basic requirement will be a unified national law regarding land ownership. In turnthis will require a unified approach to the issue of adverse possession of registeredtitle land and particularly adverse possession of part of a land parcel. The authorsview this issue as a major obstacle in achieving a unified national cadastral surveypractice. This fundamental distinction requires resolution as a necessary step towardsa unified approach ultimately leading to an integrated national cadastre. Adversepossession of part parcels permits the variation, rectification, and re-adjustment ofboundaries with boundary definition being essential to parcel based spatial data sets.Wishing to promote consideration and debate on the issue the authors propose that thecurrent Australian state schemes be categorized according to whether they permit partparcel adverse possession and suggest some possible options. The authors concludethat all Australian jurisdictions except New South Wales, South Australia, and thetwo territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) permitpart parcel adverse possession of registered title land.
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ItemGeomatics engineering: a traditional discipline transformed in an information technology era( 1999)The last decade or so has seen the transformation of the Department of Geomatics at the University of Melbourne from a 'traditional' surveying department into one actively concerned with designing, building and managing the spatial component of the natural and built environments. This paper will present an overview of the Geomatics Engineering program at The University of Melbourne, highlighting the fact that although a firm foundation in the basic sciences is maintained the program has become increasingly aligned with information technology and information systems. Geomatics Engineers now play an increased role in the creation of the data infrastructure that underpins much of the development and economic stability of the information marketplace.
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ItemSpatial data infrastructure management: lessons from corporate GIS development( 1999)It is argued that a corporate GIS is the lowest level in a hierarchy of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) worldwide. Therefore, SDI development can benefit from a good understanding of the nature and dynamics of development of a corporate GIS. To facilitate this cross-fertilisation, existing definitions of GIS are briefly reviewed in the context of the organisational setting of a corporate GIS. A high level perspective which describes a corporate GIS as making up of GIS modules that play the roles of either an infrastructure or a business process is presented in the paper. The modules are termed infrastructure GIS and business process GIS respectively, with the former supporting the latter. The patterns of GIS development and some long term characteristics of a corporate GIS are identified in a study of the dynamics of GIS development in the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in the State Government of Victoria. These two aspects of the nature of a corporate are also applicable to SDIs and their development. Based on the experience of SDI development in Australia, particularly Victoria, the implications of the observed nature of SDI relationships on SDI management are discussed
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ItemFuture directions for Spatial Information Management in Australia-a land administration perspective( 1999)Future directions for spatial information management in Australia, from a land administrationperspective, are discussed. Sustainable development, micro-economic reform, globalisation andtechnology are highlighted as the drivers for change. The changing spatial information environment withemphasis on land administration and cadastral issues is examined by drawing on research beingundertaken at the University of Melbourne. Issues concerned with future land administrationinfrastructures such as the changing humankind to land relationship, cadastral reform and native title arehighlighted. Specific cadastral and land administration issues and technologies which impact on spatialinformation strategies are reviewed, including understanding the business-infrastructure relationship inspatial information management, modelling the maintenance of cadastral systems, the changing nature ofspatial data infrastructures, the spatial hierarchy problem, the importance of developing partnerships andthe impact of communications and WWW technologies. The paper concludes by emphasising that anygovernment spatial information strategy is intimately linked to land administration and is influenced byglobal drivers such as sustainable development, micro-economic reform and globalisation, as well astechnology. Understanding the inter-dependence between these global drivers is a key to successfulspatial information management strategies.
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ItemLand administration, spatial systems and citiesan Australian perspective( 1999)The paper argues that any spatial information strategy for urban, local government orcity jurisdiction is intimately linked to and influenced by the state or national landadministration and cadastral systems where it is located. It is these state or nationalsystems which usually provide the spatial infrastructure for urban information systems.Therefore to understand current trends in urban information systems, changes and trendsin state and national land administration systems must also be understood. The paperaddresses this topic by exploring the changing humankind-land relationship and theglobal drivers of sustainable development, micro-economic reform, globalisation andtechnology, with emphasis on Australian state spatial information systems. It draws onresearch being undertaken at the University of Melbourne to highlight some of thetrends and issues
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ItemCadastral Systems on the World Wide Web:A Multi-Purpose Vision( 1999)The World Wide Web (WWW) is now a reliable and efficient source of informationworldwide. With this in mind, traditional cadastral systems are looking to the WWW as atool that will better serve the users of land information. As such, this paper will outline thedevelopments of modern cadastral systems and in particular, online cadastral systems andthe increasing use of the WWW for access.The paper will then demonstrate how a modern cadastral system can benefit by beingonline on the WWW. It will also review Australian and international developments onbringing cadastral systems online and assisting in managing complex land tenure systems.The paper will discuss the realisation of a Multi-Purpose Cadastre concept through the useof the WWW, distributed databases and Map Servers. Resulting issues such as data, spatialprocessing, data delivery and client will be addressed.
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ItemSpatial hierarchical reasoning applied to administrative boundary design using GIS( 1999)Throughout history, humankind has segmented and structured the spatial environment in various ways to support administrative, political and economic activities. To date, the majority of spatial boundaries have been constructed in an uncoordinated manner with individual organisations generating individual boundaries to meet individual needs. This practice has resulted in boundary layers that even the most sophisticated GIS (Geographic Information System) technology is unable to cross analyse accurately. Consequently, geospatial information is fragmented over a series of boundary units. The objective of this paper is to identify issues associated with the division of our geospatial environment. Also, to investigate new methods for the organisation of data by applying the principles of Hierarchical Spatial Reasoning (HSR), where HSR can be used as the theoretical framework for investigating the hierarchical structuring of space and its use in reasoning. The study aims to examine the global extent of the problem, while focusing on solutions for the state of Victoria, Australia.