Structural analyses of features in cultural landscapes based on historical cadastral maps and GIS

A landscape may appear to be ancient and to contain old man-made structures even if this is not the whole truth. Structures are moved, removed, replaced and added over the years. New users introduce new land use and management regimes. In Norway, information from land consolidation processes is crucially important in gaining a better understanding of the history, dynamics and development of farms, identifying older traces of human activity and selecting important areas for protection and management. When cadastral maps are transformed, common points are needed during the transformation process and for testing the accuracy of the final transformation. It is often difficult to find enough common points to satisfy statistical requirements. Paper I presents a simple method using buffers based on linear features to evaluate whether or not the accuracy of the transformation results is better than the known accuracy of the source. Papers II, III and IV show how digitised and geographically referenced historical cadastral maps can be used to reconstruct the situation at various dates back to the 19th century, and for some information back to the 16th century. The digitised cadastral map provides a snapshot of the situation at the time of the land consolidation process, and the information is considered to be very exact. Paper IV also demonstrates how a DEM (digital elevation model) can add significantly to an understanding of the information contained in the land consolidation material. The use of digitised cadastral maps reveals that many man-made structures generally perceived as old, because they are constructed using traditional techniques, in fact date from after the land consolidation process. One aim of the new European Landscape Convention is to promote landscape protection, management and planning. It therefore requires identification of landscapes and analysis of their characteristics and the forces and pressures transforming them. Using land consolidation material in a GIS makes it possible to document changes in a landscape and improve understanding of the pressures behind these changes

Requirements for Topology in 3D GIS

Topology and its various benefits are well understood within the context of 2D Geographical Information Systems. However, requirements in three-dimensional (3D) applications have yet to be defined, with factors such as lack of users' familiarity with the potential of such systems impeding this process. In this paper, we identify and review a number of requirements for topology in 3D applications. The review utilises existing topological frameworks and data models as a starting point. Three key areas were studied for the purposes of requirements identification, namely existing 2D topological systems, requirements for visualisation in 3D and requirements for 3D analysis supported by topology. This was followed by analysis of application areas such as earth sciences and urban modelling which are traditionally associated with GIS, as well as others including medical, biological and chemical science. Requirements for topological functionality in 3D were then grouped and categorised. The paper concludes by suggesting that these requirements can be used as a basis for the implementation of topology in 3D. It is the aim of this review to serve as a focus for further discussion and identification of additional applications that would benefit from 3D topology. © 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

The distribution of landed property

The distribution of property is established through various mechanisms. In this paper we study the acreage distribution of land plots owned by natural persons in the Zl\'{\i}n Region of the Czech Republic. We show that the data are explained in terms of a simple model in which the inheritance and market behavior are combined.Comment: The distribution of landed propert

FORMALIZING INFORMALITY: THE PRAEDIAL REGISTRATION SYSTEM IN PERU

The Praedial Property Registration system has been presented as an alternative system to traditional registries for the formalization of immovable property. Much of the earlier design and pilot work for the Praedial Property Registration system was done by the Peruvian private organization, Instituto Libertad y Democracia (ILD). They claim that in Peru they "have formalized over 150,000 properties much more quickly, and at dramatically less costs, than traditional titling and registration programs" in three-and-a-half years during the early 1990s. This property formalization system has been trademarked as PROFORM. It is being offered to other countries as a quick and inexpensive way to convert informal property in the hands of a large proportion of the population into legally recognized private property, and as a source of capital for the grassroots development of these countries. This study assesses the functioning of this system in Peru and its replicability in other countries. There is no easily accessible documentation on how this property formalization program has actually functioned in Peru, and it is therefore difficult for development agencies to determine its applicability elsewhere. This assessment of the Registro Predial in Peru is an attempt to document the functioning of an important component of this formalization program. The study examines different aspects of property formalization and related institutions and processes. The scope of this assessment, therefore, includes not only the Registro Predial registration system, but also the titling process (prior to registration) and the credit worthiness and credit opportunities for titled and registered property in both urban and rural areas in Lima that fall under the jurisdiction of the Registro Predial. The study also examines the concepts and legal framework of titling, registration, ownership rights, and possession rights within the Peruvian context.Land titles--Registration and transfer--Peru, Land tenure--Government policy--Peru, Land administration--Peru, Land Economics/Use,

PROPERTY REGISTRATION IN ALBANIA: AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ISSUE

This paper presents the plans being made in Albania to establish an immovable property registration system in the most efficient way. It considers not only technically modern equipment and computer-related problems but also social and economic feasibility. In Albania, the immovable property registration system is necessary in order to face successfully the new conditions of the free market-oriented economy. For about 50 years, property ownership in Albania was restricted to the State. The 1991 land reform in Albania advanced quickly, and at present over 90 percent of agricultural land is distributed to farmers, though in highly fragmented holdings (totaling an average area average of 2 hectares), creating about 1.8 million new parcels registered in the cadastral district offices. In urban areas, housing privatization was also completed quickly, creating about 300,000 new properties in cities, which are being registered in the Hipoteka (deed registry) district offices. Although market transactions in agriculture land are not yet allowed (though enabling legislation is expected to be passed soon), many land transactions have taken place. The housing market is already very active. Conflicts exist, especially in urban areas, between ex-owners of the land and buildings, and the state or present occupants. Therefore, it is highly desirable to establish a property registration system in Albania quickly and yet with careful planning. This paper presents the registration information system model.Land titles--Albania, Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania, Land use--Information services, Land Economics/Use,

Decision Support System for Urbanization of the Northern Part of the Volga-Akhtuba Floodplain (Russia) on the Basis of Interdisciplinary Computer Modeling

There is a computer decision support system (CDSS) for urbanization of the northern part of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. This system includes subsystems of cognitive and game-theoretic analysis, geoinformation and hydrodynamic simulations. The paper presents the cognitive graph, two-level and three-level models of hierarchical games for the cases of uncontrolled and controlled development of the problem situation. We described the quantitative analysis of the effects of different strategies for the spatial distribution of the urbanized territories. For this reason we conducted the territory zoning according to the level of negative consequences of urbanization for various agents. In addition, we found an analytical solution for games with the linear dependence of the average flooded area on the urbanized area. We numerically computed a game equilibrium for dependences derived from the imitational geoinformation and hydrodynamic modeling of flooding. As the result, we showed that the transition to the three-level management system and the implementation of an optimal urbanization strategy minimize its negative consequences.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; Conference: Creativity in Intelligent Technologies and Data Science. CIT&DS 201