HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or
real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...
's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'

/ref> Often it is represented graphically in a cadastral map. In most countries, legal systems have developed around the original administrative systems and use the cadastre to define the dimensions and location of land parcels described in legal documentation. A land parcel or cadastral parcel is defined as "a continuous area, or more appropriately volume, that is identified by a unique set of homogeneous property rights". Cadastral surveys document the Boundary (real estate), boundaries of land ownership, by the production of documents, diagrams, sketches, plans (''
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
s'' in the US), charts, and maps. They were originally used to ensure reliable facts for land valuation and taxation. An example from early
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
is the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
in 1086.
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
established a comprehensive cadastral system for France that is regarded as the forerunner of most modern versions. Cadastral survey information is often a base element in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or Land Information Systems (LIS) used to assess and manage land and built infrastructure. Such systems are also employed on a variety of other tasks, for example, to track long-term changes over time for geological or ecological studies, where land tenure is a significant part of the scenario. The cadastre is a fundamental source of data in disputes and
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
s between landowners.
Land registration Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, Possession (law), possession, or other rights in Real estate, land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of ti ...
and cadastre are both types of land recording and complement each other. By clearly assigning property rights and demarcating land, cadasters have been attributed with strengthening state fiscal capacity and economic growth.


Etymology and definition

The word ''
cadastre A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in ...
'' came into English through French from the Greek (), a list or register, from ()—literally, "(organised) line by line". A cadastre commonly includes details of the
ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...
, the
tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
, the precise location, the dimensions (and area), the cultivations if rural, and the value of individual parcels of land. Cadastres are used by many nations around the world, some in conjunction with other records, such as a title register."Cadastral Template - Field Data C4" (lists nations), CadastralTemplate.org, January 2008, webpage
CT-C4
: also has term "cadastral survey" and other land records.
The
International Federation of Surveyors International Federation of Surveyors ( abbreviated FIG, after the ) is the UN-recognized global organization for the profession of surveying and related disciplines. It was established in 1878,
defines cadastre as follows:
A Cadastre is normally a parcel-based, and up-to-date land information system containing a record of interests in land (e.g. rights, restrictions and responsibilities). It usually includes a geometric description of land parcels linked to other records describing the nature of the interests, the ownership or control of those interests, and often the value of the parcel and its improvements.


History

Some of the earliest cadastres were ordered by Roman Emperors to recover state owned lands that had been appropriated by private individuals, and thereby recover income from such holdings. One such cadastre was done in AD 77 in Campania, a surviving stone marker of the survey reads "The Emperor
Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
, in the eighth year of his tribunician power, so as to restore the state lands which the Emperor
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
had given to the soldiers of Legion II Gallica, but which for some years had been occupied by private individuals, ordered a survey map to be set up with a record on each 'century' of the annual rental". In this way Vespasian was able to reimpose taxation formerly uncollected on these lands. With the fall of Rome, the use of cadastral maps effectively discontinued. Medieval practice used written descriptions of the extent of land rather than using more precise surveys. Only in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries did the use of cadastral maps resume, beginning in the Netherlands. With the emergence of
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
in
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
Europe, the need for cadastral maps reemerged as a tool to determine and express control of land as a means of production. This took place first privately in land disputes and later spread to governmental practice as a means of more precise tax assessment.


Surveys


Map

A ''cadastral map'' is a map that shows the boundaries and ownership of land parcels. Some cadastral maps show additional details, such as survey district names, unique identifying numbers for parcels, certificate of title numbers, positions of existing structures, section or lot numbers and their respective areas, adjoining and adjacent street names, selected boundary dimensions and references to prior maps. James C. Scott, in ''Seeing Like a State'', argues that all maps, but particularly cadastral maps, are designed to make local situations legible to an outsider, and in doing so, enable states to collect data on their subjects. He sees the origins of this in
Early Modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the mid 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...
, where
tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...
ation became more complex. Cadastral maps, he argues, are always a great simplification, but they in themselves help change reality.


Documentation

Cadastral documentation comprises the documentary materials submitted to cadastre or land administration offices for renewal of cadastral recordings. Cadastral documentation is kept in paper and/or electronic form. Jurisdiction statutes and further provisions specify the content and form of the documentation, as well as the person(s) authorized to prepare and sign the documentation, including concerned parties (owner, etc.), licensed surveyors and legal advisors. The office concerned reviews the submitted information; if the documentation does not comply with stated provisions, the office may set a deadline for the applicant to submit complete documentation. The concept of cadastral documentation emerged late in the English language, as the institution of cadastre developed outside English-speaking countries. In a Danish textbook, one out of fifteen chapters regards the form and content of documents concerning subdivision and other land matters. Early textbooks of international scope focused on recordings in terms of
land registration Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, Possession (law), possession, or other rights in Real estate, land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of ti ...
and technical aspects of
cadastral survey Cadastral surveying is the sub-field of cadastre and surveying that specialises in the establishment and re-establishment of Real estate, real property boundaries. It involves the physical delineation of property boundaries and determination of dim ...
, yet note that 'cadastral surveying has been carried out within a tight framework of legislation'.Dale. P. F. & McLaughlin, J. D. (1988) ''Land Information Management. - An introduction with special reference to cadastral problems in Third World countries,'' Oxford University Press (p. 28) With the view of assessing transaction costs, a European project: Modelling real property transactions (2001–2005) charted procedures for the transfer of ownership and other rights in land and buildings. Cadastral documentation is described, e.g. for Finland as follows '8. Surveyor draws up cadastral map and cadastral documents … 10. Surveyor sends cadastral documents to cadastral authority.' In Australia, similar activities are referred to as 'lodgement of plans of subdivision at land titles offices'


Management

Cadastre management has been used by the software industry since at least 2005. It mainly refers to the use of technology for management of cadastre and land information in
geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...
s, spatial data infrastructures and
software architecture Software architecture is the set of structures needed to reason about a software system and the discipline of creating such structures and systems. Each structure comprises software elements, relations among them, and properties of both elements a ...
, rather than to general management issues of cadastral and other land information agencies.


Cadastres in different jurisdictions


United Kingdom

In 1836, Colonel Robert Dawson of the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
proposed that a cadastre be implemented in light of his experiences as on secondment to the Tithe Commission.


United States

In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, cadastral survey within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maintains records of all public lands. Such surveys often require detailed investigation of the history of land use, legal accounts, and other documents. The Public Lands Survey System is a cadastral survey of the United States originating in legislation from 1785, after international recognition of the United States. The
Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...
is a similar cadastral survey conducted in Western Canada, begun in 1871 after the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. Both cadastral surveys are made relative to principal meridian and baselines. These cadastral surveys divided the surveyed areas into townships. Some much earlier surveys in Ohio created 25 square mile townships when the design of the system was being explored. Later, the design became square land areas of approximately 36 square miles (six miles by six miles). These townships are divided into sections, each approximately one-mile square. Unlike in Europe, this cadastral survey largely preceded settlement and as a result greatly influenced settlement patterns. Properties are generally rectangular, boundary lines often run on cardinal bearings, and parcel dimensions are often in fractions or multiples of chains. Land descriptions in Western North America are principally based on these land surveys.


Extensions

Extensions of the conventional cadastre concept include the 3D cadastre, considering the vertical domain; and the multipurpose cadastre, considering non-parcel data. According to the UN Economic Commission for Europe, a "Marine Cadastre describes the location and spatial extent of rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment". Marine cadastres apply the same governance principles to the water. They help further conservation and sustainability efforts. This is especially a concern in Europe's large aquatic market. In Australia, they are used by many parties to plan around legal, technical, and institutional considerations. A related concept is that of ''marine spatial data infrastructures''.


See also


References

*


Further reading

*


External links


Cadastral Template Project
linking to descriptions of national cadastres
EuroGeographics
representing National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies

* http://www.icisociety.ca/ * Surveyor General Branch http://sgb.nrcan.gc.ca/
Cadastre in Romania
{{Authority control Map types Real estate Geomatics Land registration