Cadastral systems — alternatives

The importance of successful cadastral systems to a country's economy, administration and rule of law are accepted by many. Several donor organizations have been, for quite some time, supportive of projects to make existing cadastral systems more successful or set up new ones. Nevertheless, there have been, and still are, problems with such projects. One of the reasons for such problems relates to the limited cadastral knowledge of local experts and to the fact that many foreign consultants are mainly familiar with the cadastral system of their own country. It is important for all the cadastral experts, whether they are local or foreign, to know that there are many alternatives, which in general, give a good solution. The article will introduce the most common alternatives for seven issues, like a centralized or decentralized cadastral system, land registration with a separate or integrated cadastre, and different parcel identification methods. Even though there seems to be little correlation between the alternatives used in a particular country and the question of whether its cadastral system is running well, the article ends with some conclusions based on our recent experiences in central Europe.