Best practices for land administration systems in developing countries

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to best practice in land administration systems. It draws ona number of key documents such as the Land Administration Guidelines produced for theUnited Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Europe (1996), the International Federation ofSurveyors (FIG) Statement on the Cadastre (1995), the UN-FIG Bogor Declaration onCadastral Reform (1996), the FIG Cadastre 2014 publication (1998) and the UN-FIG BathurstDeclaration on Land Administration for Sustainable Development (1999).It also draws on a wide range of publications concerned with best practice in the developmentof cadastral and land administration infrastructures, as well as the author's experience overmany years. While the paper is focussed on world's best practice, it does so in the context ofdeveloping and emerging industrial countries such as Indonesia which have diverse land tenurerelationships ranging from areas in cities with active land markets approaching modern landmarkets, to whole provinces which are almost completely under traditional or customary tenure.While the paper recognises that each country has different requirements for cadastral and landadministration infrastructures due to their specific social, legal, cultural, economic, institutionaland administrative circumstances, the paper highlights some common principles in the design and implementation of land administration infrastructures that are usually applicable forcountries such as Indonesia, either now or in the foreseeable future. Importantly not allprinciples will be applicable for all countries.The paper discusses the principles under the following headings:1. Land policy principles2. Land tenure principles3. Land administration and cadastral principles4. Institutional principles5. Spatial data infrastructure principles6. Technical principles7. Human resource development principlesThe paper concludes by highlighting the importance of developing a vision for a landadministration system within