LAND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Module overview
November, 2022
Mireille BIRARO (PhD)

+250788903032
+250788903030
info@ines.ac.rw
www.ines.ac.rw
INTRODUCTION

What do you expect from this module...?

MODULE OBJECTIVES

 Introduce land registers;

 Outline information content of modern cadaster;

 Provide techniques for acquisition, managing and

updating land registers;

 Introduce land registration systems;

 Highlight the importance of public access and security to

land information.
PRACTICAL SKILLS

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

 Use GIS software to develop land information systems;

 Link non-spatial and geographic information systems.

MODULE DESCRIPTION

TOTAL HOURS 150 = 15 CREDITS

Lectures 30
Practical Class 40
Laboratory
Structured exercise 30
Self study 50

MODULE EVALUATION
Attendance 10%
Assignments/Quiz 40%
Written CAT 10%
Final writing exam 40%
 LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION

+250788903032
+250788903030
info@ines.ac.rw
www.ines.ac.rw
Land Information System 6
Group discussion: Discuss in a group of 4 for
and share your findings with the class

Land administration Land management

Similarities:

Particularities: Particularities:

Land information
Types with examples:

Land Information System 7

Land administration...
 The processes run by
government using public or
private sector agencies
related to land tenure, land
value, land use, and land
development (Williamson et al,
2010)
 It relates people to land and
informs on the ‘how’, the
‘what’, the ‘who’, the ‘when’
and the ‘where’ of land
tenure, land use, land value,
and land development (UN-
GGIM, 2020).
Land Information System
Land management…
 Process by which the resources of
land are put to good effect (UNECE,
1996)
 Process of controlling the use and
development of land resources
(UNECE, 1996).
 Activities associated with the
control of land as a resource to
achieve social, environmental and
economic sustainable development
(Eg: farming, mineral extraction, planning of
urban and rural area).
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 Land Information...
They are of two types:
 Textual or non-spatial information: information about
- person (natural/ non-natural): name, address, gender, profession,
company type, etc.
- type of right: freehold, leasehold, sublease, usufruct, easement,
building rights, occupancy right, etc.
- restriction on right: mortgage, caveat
- responsibility: pay land lease/taxes, develop land.

 Spatial information: information about the parcel: size, location, value,

boundary location, use

Land Information System 9

Land Information...
gender
nam Person
e type date of birth

address civil status

Person
profession company type

Usufruct Freehold
(use right) Right (ownership)
Restriction Leasehold
(eg:
Occupanc
mortgage)
y
Parcel size
location

use value
Identification
(parcel
number)

Land Information System 10

 Land information management...

 The key component of land administration is the management

of land and property related information manually or digitally.

 The usefulness of these information will depend on:

• The quality of the data collected
• The extent to which they are up to date, accurate, complete,
comprehensive, understandable and accessible.

 Land information is an important and expensive resource that

must be managed efficiently in order to maximize its potential
benefits.

 Bad land information lead to wrong decision making.

Land Information System 11
 (Dale & McLaughlin, 1999)

Land Information System (LIS) - Definition

 A system for acquiring,
processing, storing, and
distributing information about
Land information
land (Williasmon et al, 2010).

 It uses a combination of human Collection Maintenance Analysis Dissemination Use

and technical resources,

together with a set of Organizing
procedures
organizing procedures to Technical Human
produce information to support resources resources
land management. Components of LIS
(Dale & McLaughlin, 1999 – Pge 93)

 Land and property related data

are managed within a formal
‘Land Information System’.
Land Information System 12
Land Information System (LIS) - Components
 It consists of:
 Database containing spatially referenced land-related
data for a defined area,

 Procedures and techniques for collecting, updating,

processing and distributing land data.

 Human and technical resources which together with

appropriate organizing procedures are applied to the
collection, storage, retrieval, dissemination and use of
land-related information.

Land Information System 13

 Land Information System (LIS)...
 LIS may be designed to serve one primary function or
may be multifunctional.

 Based on this, we can found 4 types of LIS:

Environmental Infrastructure Cadastral Socio-economic
systems systems systems system
• Soils, geology • Utilities • Tenure • Health
• Watercourses • Buildings • Valuation • Welfare
• Vegetation • Transports • Land use • Population
• Wildlife • Communicati • Law and order • Marketing
on

14

Spatial datasets
(Dale & McLaughlin, 1999 – Pge 95)

Land Information System

 Cadastre…

‘It a parcel based and up-to-date LIS

containing a record of interests in land (eg:
rights, restrictions and responsibilities). It
usually includes a geometric description of
land parcels linked to other records
describing the nature of the interests, and
ownership or control of those interests, and
often the value of the parcel and its
improvements." [FIG, 1995].

=> official record of information about

parcels, including details of their
boundaries, tenure, use and value
(Zevenbergen, 2002).

Land Information System 15

Purpose of cadastres
 It may be established for:
 Fiscal purposes (eg: valuation and equitable taxation),

 Legal purposes (eg: land transferring)

 Assisting in the management of land and land use

(e.g., for planning and other administrative
purposes), and

 Facilitating sustainable development and

environmental protection.
Land Information System 16
Types of cadastre
 Cadastre may base on: • the areas defined by
• the area defined by land use
the held right  Land use cadastre
 Judicial/Legal
cadastre • a wide range of land
related information
• the taxable area which (right, value, use, etc)
may be different from which can serve for
the extent of what is various use
held  Multi purpose
 Fiscal cadastre cadastre

Land Information System 17

Williamson et al, 2010 – Page 123

18
 THE ROLE OF CADASTRE IN LAND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Cadastre is the basic building block

in any land administration system.

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 Legal Land Register

 It is a result of a land registration which is

a process of recording legally recognized
interests in or rights on land.

 Legal land register provides details on who

has what type of rights on a particular
parcel with all relevant legal documents
regarding this relationship.

 It described the legal (non-

spatial/attributes) part of the LIS that
describes the type of right and the
condition under which they were obtained
and are held, supported by evidences.
Legal land register and Cadastre
 They complement each other, they
operate as interactive systems.
Cadastral information Legal information

 Land registration puts in principle the

accent on the relation subject-right,
whereas cadastre puts the accent on
the relation on right-object.

 In other words: the legal land register

answers the questions of “who and User s at the Regional office
how” while the cadastre answers the
questions of “where and how”.

 These two registers can be managed by

one institution or by two different
institutions: Cadastre by surveyors and
legal land register by lawyers.
Legal land register and Cadastre

Subject
WHO?
Legal land
Register

HOW?
Right

Cadastre

WHERE?
Object
 Benefits of having LIS
Group discussion: Discuss and explain in groups ‘5 benefits’ that you think
are in having LIS. Write them on a sheet of paper (with the name of group
members) and submit.
DO NOT COPY! WRITE DWON YOUR DISCUSSION IN YOUR OWN WORDS!
The findings will be shared on Monday.
• 
• 
• 

Land Information System 23

Benefits of cadastre and LIS
 Without knowledge of who owns the land
development cannot peacefully take place.

 In many development programs, the emphasis is to

ensure that rights in land are identified, recognized by
the state and recorded in some suitable form.

 LIS, particularly in land resources and development

related projects that have a land reform and land
registration requirement, are becoming daily tools for
planners, estate managers, land developers etc.

Land Information System 25

 REFERENCE
 Dale, P. F., & McLaughlin, J. (1999). Land Administration. New York, United States of America:
Oxford University Press
 FAO. (2003). Multilingual thesaurus on land tenure. English version. Rome
 FIG. (1995). Statement on the Cadastre. Retrieved on 07 August, 2013, from
http://www.fig.net/commission7/reports/cadastre/statement_on_cadastre.html
 Henssen, J. (2010). Land Registration and Cadastre Systems : Principles and Related Issues
German: Technische Universität München.
 UNECE. (1996). Land Administration Guidelines with Special Reference to Countries in
Transition. New York and Geneva.
 Williamson, I., et al. (2010). Land administration for sustainable development. Redlands: ESRI.
 Zevenbergen, J. A. (2002). Systems of land registration : aspects and effects. (51), Netherlands
Geodetic Commission (NCG), Delft.
 UN-GGIM (United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information
Management) (2020). Framework for Effective Land Administration: A reference for
developing, reforming, renewing, strengthening, modernizing, and monitoring
land administration. Retrieved from https:
//ggim.un.org/meetings/GGIM-committee/10th-Session/documents/E-C.20-2020-29-Add_2-
Framework-for-EffectiveLand-Administration.pdf. Date of retrieving: 7 June 2021

Land Information System 26