Land administration and cadastral trends: the impact of the changing humankind-land relationship andmajor global drivers

Abstract

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