Land markets in a changing world opportunities for surveyors

Abstract

Land surveyors, land registries and land information systems are primarily concerned with building and maintaining a land administration infrastructure. This includes cadastral surveys to identify and subdivide land, land registry systems to support simple land trading (buying, selling, mortgaging and leasing land) and land information systems to facilitate access to the relevant information.We assume that a primary task of this infrastructure is to support the operation of an efficient and effective land market. But what is a land market? Since our land administration systems were invented, land commodities and trading patterns have undergone substantial changes: they have become complex, corporatised and international. Are our current land administration systems designed to support a modern land market which trades in complex commodities such as mortgage backed certificates, water rights, land information, time shares, unit and property trusts, financial instruments, insurance products, options, corporate development instruments and vertical villages? Modern land markets involve a complex and dynamic range of activities, processes and opportunities. They are continually evolving, primarily in response to economic energy and sustainable development objectives. They are also being facilitated by information and communications technologies. This paper argues that modern land markets offer many business opportunities for land surveyors. It is important that cadastral survey practices, land registries and land information systems keep pace with, and preferably lead, these land market developments. It discusses the evolution of land administration systems and the land markets they support. It introduces the vision for a modern land administration system capable of supporting not only simple land trading but also trading in complex commodities. It describes the challenges facing surveyors if they are to think laterally, capitalise on their spatial and measurement ski