Determining the “true” three-dimensional environmental impact of Public Law Restrictions

Abstract

The needs of modern, heavily urbanised societies, require, on the one hand, the most efficient exploitation of land by individual stakeholders and, on the other hand, have set up a variety of restrictions and regulations for the public benefit. Such restrictions are steadily growing in number and apply in various areas. Given the technological development in the construction sector, complex proprietary relations emerge in overlapping private and public rights. Cadastres constitute the core of land administration systems, gradually evolving to development tools that provide multi-purpose land related information. Within this context, incorporation of Public Law Restrictions (PLRs) to cadastral systems is considered a step towards the development of integrated cadastral systems. Internationally, PLRs are registered in separate registries, using different types and formats, depending on the competent body. They include, among others, restrictions regarding environment and nature protection, water protection, spatial and land use planning zones, cultural heritage, public infrastructure corridors and zones, public easements/servitudes and mining rights. Until today 3D registration and visualisation of such PLRs is mostly discussed at research level, mainly due to the variety of scientific fields related to each PLR, the need of quantifying qualitative components or “translating” physical attributes to legal restrictions and 3D volumes, as well as to the variety of responsible authorities and types of regulations. This paper focuses on identifying PLRs that pertain either explicit or implicit 3D characteristics, emphasising on the PLRs related to the development of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project. To this purpose, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Greek section of the pipeline has been used as input, to identify the 3D PLRs that affect the pipeline’s installation, as well as their impact on the rights of affected parcels. Based on the constraints and legal requirements provided by the ESIA report, this paper considers broader PLRs’ legislation issues at a national and international level, concerning environmental protection that is: soil and groundwater, protected areas, landscape protection, restrictions on private land parcels crossed by the pipeline, or intersection with other underground infrastructures. This paper continues the authors’ research on issues linking 3D Cadastre to Public Law. The outcomes of this research can be used to identify and classify the complexities of transforming qualitative features into spatial dimensions, thus contributing to the 3D modelling of overlapping legal spaces related to various Public Law restrictions