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The need for land information.

Problems concerning the optimal use of earth resources and improved land management are important all over the world. With increased population pressures and a greater need for environmental control, they must be given still greater attention. Better and more detailed knowledge about the present situation and expected development with regard to land and water would be an important basis for further action. The problem of how to develop good land information system (LIS) has been debated extensively, especially since automation has greatly increased our ability to handle masses of data. Information related to specified land units is a cornerstone of LIS, since data concerning ownership and other property rights, boundaries, areas are all interrelated. There is a growing need all over the world for land information as a basis for planning, development and control of land resources. But how can we plan and control without having sufficient knowledge and information about the basic element – the land itself? General knowledge is not enough; what is required is detailed information about land use: who owns the land, who occupies and works it, what is the pattern of land use, etc. For this rather obvious reason, the need for land information systems (LIS) has become an urgent problem.

A Land Information System is a tool for legal, administrative and economic decision-making and an aid for planning and development which consists on the one hand of a database containing spatially referenced land-related data for a defined area, and on the other hand, of procedures and techniques for the systematic collection, updating, processing and distribution of the data. The base of a land information system is a uniform spatial referencing system for the data in the system, which also facilitates the linking of data within the system with other land-related data. New technology – especially computerization – has greatly increased the potential for developing such systems, but also imposed some restrictions and conditions. In the past land-related information was gathered, stored, updated and distributed on a manual basis in registers, books, plans and maps. With modern technology, these activities are now being computerized and automated throughout the world. This transition to computers is receiving major attention by private, industrial and governmental agencies all over the world. The variety of systems is great and includes fiscal systems, legal land registration systems, development control systems, facilities management systems, utility network systems, urban and rural planning information systems, land resources systems, demographic and social data systems, and the basic geographic or coordinate systems. Of primary importance in building effective, efficient and compatible land information systems are: - the existence of an easily accessible common reference framework; - constructive actions by government in coordinating existing land-related functions; - the standardization of procedures and terminology.