Land Development Planning
Land Information System (LIS) development Prototype
-A case of Thimphu Municipal Corporation-
Background:
Land is the most valuable possession of mankind. It is also an important asset of any country. Without land, the country will not exist. Similarly, without the proper information system, there will not be an orderly and intelligent decision making and the usage of the land will be in threat. Therefore, the wealth of the nation and its economic development are dependent on the state of the land and its healthy usage radiating from the proper information system.
International Federation of Surveyors has defined Land Information System (LIS) as a tool for legal, administrative and economic decision making and aids planning and development. It consists on one hand the database containing, spatially referenced land related data and on the other hand the procedures and techniques for systematic collection, updating, processing and distribution of the data to the end users in an efficient manner. LIS further simplifies linking of data within a system with other related data (UNECE, 1996). Therefore, it implies that LIS is the important component in any country as it serves as a base data for the development of Geographic information pertaining to land be it rural or in urban context.
There is a growing need all over the world for land information as a basis for planning, development and control of land resources. Problems concerning the optimal use of land resources and improved land management are also the pertinent issues. Information related to the specified land units is a cornerstone of LIS, since data concerning ownership and other property rights, boundaries, areas, land uses, market and assessed values, buildings, habitation etc., are all interrelated (Gerhard Larsson 1996). It is apparent, therefore, any information concerning land is invaluable information which serves as a key to financial investments, commerce, industry and agriculture.
The focus of the study is the development of the LIS. The LIS development needs a wider view of concepts with respect to the system. This is to ensure efficient operation of the system for many applications besides fulfilling the task for property taxation. These wider views involve the integrated management from different perspectives of tenure security, economic growth and environmental control (Dale P. F. and McLaughlin J. D, 1999). This necessitates understanding the local situation as well as the environment in terms of behaviors of the basic system objects. Further modeling and the relationships of the static and the dynamic components need to be understood. In this study, the FIG Core Cadastral Model of Christiaan Lemmen and Peter van Oosterom will be modified and implemented. In order to apply the model in the case of Thimphu City, it would require additional attributes, operators, associations and introduction of complete new classes. These additions will be explored based on the existing situational analysis.
Introduction to the Study Area
Thimphu, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Bhutan, has grown rapidly during the last two decades with an average population growth rate of about 7 % during the last years. The sale, subdivision and development of land that until recently was vacant meadow has helped to drive this growth. This has resulted in a large demand for relevant and updated land data. The urbanization and improved living standard itself demands a sound urban planning, which greatly relies on updated and accessible data about land, settlement and other physical infrastructure.
Thimphu City Corporation (TCC) the municipal authority of Thimphu presently does not have adequately trained staff, administrative procedures and technology for properly administering the registration and taxation of land and land transactions in the city.
From the initial development of Thimphu as the permanent capital in the 1960s, the municipal administration had been the responsibility of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB). Most recently, TCC was a unit within RGOB's Public Works Division. In 1995 though, TCC became an autonomous municipal corporation with the authority to administer the city finances, provide municipal services and perform other city functions independently from RGOB. One high priority function is the reform of the city's land registration and tax administration system.
The Information Technology trend prevailing world wide, with governmental rationalizing policies to be implemented, at the same time the mandated TCC to secure the correct handling of the sometimes worn out analogue land title acts further more support the urgent need for a change. The benefits of acquiring the in-house capacity and developing job satisfaction of the staff are of course even more supportive of the land information system.
To achieve the ultimate use of the LIS, the whole data flow from the cadastral survey to the retrieval of data by the user must be looked into. Thus, the prototype development in this research and the guideline must be treated as one homogenous implementation and end products to achieve the most substantial impact.
Research Problem:
Every research is defined by the fundamental question: How could land administration and management in local government be improved with the support of an information system? This would be the theme for this research. It could be decomposed into three areas of concern, as follows:
- How does the information system impact the local government in land administration and management issues?
- How should a land information system take shape in the local government?
- How would the system work when implemented through a prototype using FIG core database model?
The first question will deal with the analysis of the current practices and priorities in land administration and management processes in local government. It would entail reviewing concepts relating to the land administration and the information system. It will also examine existing condition of the local government.
The second question is about the core of the information system. It will define a set of guidelines for the system development and determine the user requirements. These guidelines and requirements are translated into process and data models.
The third question will concentrate on the application of the model in a database and Geographic information system to illustrate some aspects of the information system. FIG core database model will be extended by adding classes to suit the requirements based on the user requirements. It will exemplify the process of property taxation and records.
Objectives:
Based on the above research problem, the following research objectives have been formulated:
- Analyze current processes of land administration and management processes in the local government
- Review relevant literatures related to land information system for urban areas
- Examine existing land administration and management processes in local government
- Propose changes to the current management setup
- Design an information system for land administration and management
- Define guidelines for developing the information system
- Determine requirements or needs of users
- Model the structure and functionalities of the system
- Applicability through prototyping
- Demonstrate the system functionalities or features
- Identify potential problems when implemented for the property taxation purpose
- Develop a generic core database model to be applied in the other urban areas in the developing countries
Research Framework:
The research will mainly consist of three components analysis, design and prototyping. These will guide the research till the end and the components refer to the three research questions formulated above. Analysis will command the scanning of the environment through literature review and examination of the perspective of the local government. Further the questionnaires will be designed to define the importance of the information system from the user's perspective also. Design will entail the information system modeling based on the FIG core database model, system and the user requirements. Prototyping will exhibit the development of a model for the demonstration purpose.
Significance of the Study
The researcher hopes to propose a viable mechanism through this research to help the local government in developing countries to deal with the issues related to land administration and management. Therefore, the research will result in a development of the land information system.
This study will result in the formulation of the guidelines in developing a Land information system taking Thimphu City as a case study. Other towns could learn from the findings and the methods and to further propose for the replication to all the towns in Bhutan.
In a way, challenges in any system development are to align information technology to the needs of the local government organization. This as spelled out before is an important research component where the existing processes and the requirements will be studied and used as the backdrop in designing the system. Every effort will be made to understand the organization where the information system would actually be located.
FIG core database model will be studied and applied to validate the use in the developing countries with the added features and classes. Suggest recommendations to it.
Scope and Limitations
This research will be about designing an information system to support the land administration and management processes and not about inventing the administration and management tools to deal with the issues per se. It will look into the administration and management within the context of the information processes and the requirements.
This prototyping will limit the application to property taxation only while the information could be useful for urban planning purpose and designing infrastructures.
The recommendations to the FIG core database model if to be applied to the developing countries is purely in the context of the Thimphu City. However, some of the characteristics even within the developing countries may differ.
Conclusion:
LIS is recognized as paramount to support almost all kinds of functions in the various arms of the local governments both in developing and developed countries. For the efficient functioning and planning of any development activity within the municipality, LIS is necessary. However, the results and analysis will depend on the availability of accurate and reliable data. These par se is not important in this research as the main objective is the LIS development through prototyping. LIS will be based on the modified specific FIG Core database model in the context of Thimphu City.
In developing a prototype to later establish urban LIS in today's information technology environment, it is important to look at the broader management of land and geographic information systems within any state or jurisdiction. It is essential to understand the major influences currently affecting the development of such systems. These are without doubt urbanisation, the environment and a thrust by governments towards privatisation. The forces of urbanisation and privatization tend to focus government attention on cadastral data (and LIS) while environmental pressures focus attention on natural resources data (and GIS). These pressures must be seen within the broader perspective of an information society; however it is essential to match these societal pressures with the realities of political processes for the development of land and geographic information systems.
What is certain in the land information systems is to be in the appropriate form to be vital for the effective and efficient management of the city, especially in the current age of information society.
LIS has become a well known cliché to the local governments in dealing with the majority of the land administration and management activities.
Thimphu Municipal Corporation has been chosen as a study area as it is in line with the present context of research relevant to developing countries. Moreover, the researcher has easy access to the information required to fulfill the research objectives. Further, being worked in the corporation, the facilities and the supports are readily available to carry out any kind of works related to this research. This research is of interest to the organization and it is the first of its kind in an urban context. This further bridge the gap of expertise in addressing the land administration issues which is felt as a serious constraint currently.
The research of this type will at the macro level especially the Royal Government of Bhutan will benefit immensely in a long run due to absence of Land Information System in the urban areas. At the same time, it should be recognized that without DAAD scholarship, such an important research when the country is in transition to democracy would not have been possible. With this research, the current problems in the Land Administration particularly for the Thimphu municipality could be addressed at a right time. From which all other town could learn from the Thimphu municipality. Accordingly, these towns could learn from the case of the capital city.
The research is in conformity and in line with the courses undertaken at the University of Applied Sciences, Stuttgart.
References:
LARSSON, Gerhard. Land Registration and Cadastral Systems: Tools for land
information and management. London: Longman, 1996.
Dale P. F. and McLaughlin J. D., 1999. Land Administration. OUP
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