Cadastral Systems

Cadastral systems consist of official written records and the corresponding mapped registries of land. They include information such as boundaries of parcels, precise location, value, ownership, and a record of interests in the land (e.g., rights, restrictions, and responsibilities). Cadastral systems are thus composed of two main components: (1) the land registries and (2) the cadastral parcel map based on surveying (Figure 1). Together, they form the legal basis of land ownership in many parts of the world and are used when partitioning the land, when establishing and documenting legal rights to land, for maintaining legal title records, and in property tax assessment by government.

Cadastral systems have a profound influence on geography: The patterns created by cadastral partitioning schemes are among the longest-lasting physical characteristics ...