The Establishment of the Cadastral Parcel as a Core Element in the European SDI - Lessons Learned and View Towards Inspiring Applications.

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1 The Establishment of the Cadastral Parcel as a Core Element in the European SDI - Lessons Learned and View Towards Inspiring Applications. Amalia Velasco Martín-Varés 1, Martin Salzmann 2 1 Spanish Directorate General for Cadastre (Dirección General de Catastro) 2 Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency of the Netherlands (Kadaster) amalia.velasco@catastro.meh.es; martin.salzmann@kadaster.nl; Abstract The cadastral parcel is one of the core elements of the European SDI (ESDI) as part of the upcoming implementation of the INSPIRE-directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community). Making the cadastral parcel a core element in an SDI presented the cadastre and land registry organisations with a challenge, having traditionally been focused primarily on land administration. At the same time the cadastral parcel provides numerous opportunities for linking and using environmental, agricultural, planning and cadastral information. Having an available the cadastral parcel as a geographical object boosts the operational potentialities of the ESDI at large scales. This paper gives an overview of the evolution of the cadastral from its traditional role in the legal and fiscal domains to being a uniformly defined spatial object throughout Europe. We give insight how the process has resulted in the INSPIRE data specifications. Essential in this process was the willingness and conviction of the numerous national agencies that is was necessary to consider the cadastral parcel as a common spatial object; the insight that a cadastral parcel in land administration and in an ESDI are closely related but serve different purposes and the resulting focus on the use of the cadastral parcel as a locator. We focus on the potential use of the cadastral parcel in the ESDI. During its development a review of potential uses was executed and so-called use-cases are at the basis of the INSPIRE-process. The paper shows how one can arrive at sound specifications taking user and implementations issues into account. This process can be exemplary for many other harmonization processes in SDI's worldwide. 27 member states in the European Union have been able to reach agreement in a field that always has been seen primarily as national interest, but in the end has many other international benefits. Keywords: Cadastre; European SDI; use cases; Inspire; implementation

2 1. INTRODUCTION The cadastral parcel has become a core element in the European spatial data infrastructure. With the INSPIRE-directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) a spatial object that has since long been a core element in land administration has been elevated to a higher, more general, level. In previous years much focus and research has been executed related to the use of the cadastral parcel in land administration (a fine example being (UNECE, 2004)). Moreover much thought has been given to the role of the parcel in future land administration systems (Kaufmann and Steudler, 1998; Eurogeographics, 2007). The increasing availability of the parcel (both in coverage (see also Figure 1) and being available in digitally) has also prompted interest in the cadastral parcel as an element in spatial data infrastructures (SDI s). In many cases, certainly within Europe, the parcel is the geographical object with the highest granularity. Currently much information related to agricultural subsidies (LPIS), land use and contamination is already registered based on cadastral parcel information.

3 Fig. 1: National coverage of the cadastre (from (EuroGeographics and PCC, 2007)). In this paper we will focus on the process that has lead to the data specification of the cadastral parcel in INSPIRE. It seems that both the efforts of the national agencies and the technical working group (TWG) within the INSPIRE-project are essential to arrive at a sound proposal. In the definition of the data specifications the user-centered focus is highlighted. We will finally review the lessons learned and experiences gained in this process and will provide insight in the usability of the proposed solution. 2. PROCESS TOWARDS DATA SPECIFICATIONS

4 In this particular case a first set of data specifications has been developed by a working group of the cadastre and land registry agencies. These specifications served as input for the INSPIRE technical working group (TWG). Its methodology is heavily based on so-called use-cases which help to develop specifications that cater for the users needs. These specifications have been subject to a European reviewing and testing process. It is now foreseen that the final data specifications will be available by the autumn of Working group of the cadastral agencies The cadastral parcel has since long been a core element in land administration. With the evolution of many cadastres towards multi-purpose cadastres in the last decades, the parcel has become a core element in many national spatial data infrastructures. With the INSPIRE directive under development in 2005 this has lead the cadastral agencies to investigate how the parcel could be integrated in a European SDI. A joint working group of EuroGeographics Expert Group on Cadastre and Land Registry and the Permanent Committee on Cadastre in the European Union (PCC) has prepared the proposal for the definition of the parcel in INSPIRE and its implementation (EuroGeographics and PCC (2007), Salzmann and Ernst (2008)). Purpose was to influence the specifications at an early stage. Point of concern for the participating agencies was the practicality of the specifications and their implementing rules. The proposal of the working group has served as reference input for the INSPIRE TWG as thus fulfilled its objectives. Moreover the agencies were actively consulted by the INSPIRE TWG. Surveys Important aspects of the methodology were two surveys which are extensively documented and available in (EuroGeographics and PCC, 2007). The first survey was basically an inventory of the characteristics of the cadastral parcel in each European jurisdiction. A second survey was issued to assess the use of the cadastral information (and in particular the cadastral parcel) in National Spatial Data Infrastructures throughout Europe. This gives a clear insight into the potential use and added value of the cadastral parcel in SDI s both at the national and European level. Moreover, this survey enabled us to assess in how far the uses of the cadastral parcels varied across Europe. Usage across Europe would underpin the direct use of the parcel as part of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure for specific purposes, whereas varied use in some areas would indicate that implementation Europe-wide could be difficult. We considered a wide range of application areas ranging from the (classical) land market to public safety and infrastructure management.

5 Results of the surveys The first survey has shown that the cadastral parcel is well established across Europe. In Figure 1 we show that the cadastre has already a considerable coverage in Europe and may thus serve as core element in a European SDI. We received responses from over 25 countries, leading to a detailed inventory of the characteristics of the parcel across Europe, focussing on coverage issues, digital availability, and core elements and additional attributes. The results of the second survey (based on 20 responses) show that cadastral parcels are commonly used as an information object in important aspects of the land market (conveyance of property, mortgaging, easements and land/property taxation). Besides, in many countries the cadastral parcel is being used for planning purposes, environmental monitoring, subsidy-programmes, infrastructure management, public restrictions, public safety, geo-marketing and socio-economic analysis. This clearly shows the potential of the cadastral parcel as the (smallest) basic geographic element across Europe. Depending on the theme, however we saw differences in the actual use between countries. Furthermore there were large differences concerning the possible use or legally required use of the parcel for certain purposes. Accessibility and availability of parcel data The surveys also touched on the issues of the accessibility (ease of access) and availability (right of access) of data related to the cadastral parcel. We found that in the field of accessibility large and continuous progress is being made in Europe. A more fundamental issue is related to the availability of all information related to the cadastral parcel (including amongst others ownership, rights). There exist large differences in availability for the private sector and citizens in this respect (see Fig. 2). This has been one of the major considerations to limit the definition of the cadastral parcel within the European SDI to being a locator, rather than a meaningful object in the sense of land registration. By this it was the agencies opinion that availability could be achieved quickly. Harmonisation of the parcel with all elements related to land registration was not foreseen as feasible in the near future. Resulting specifications The cadastral parcel is basically the smallest spatial object that is widely used across Europe for numerous applications in national spatial data infrastructures. The working group has proposed five key elements that define the cadastral parcel in the European SDI. These are: unique identifier; area; boundaries;

6 geo-reference; origin and history. The cadastral parcel is thus defined as a basic geographic unit or locator. Within INSPIRE the parcel will primarily be used as a locator in the geo-information sector in general (although by origin it has always been, and will remain to be, a meaningful object in its own right in the land market and for taxation purposes). Fig 2: availability of cadastral information for private companies and/or citizens (from (EuroGeographics and PCC, 2007)).

7 2.2 INSPIRE Thematic working group on cadastral parcel In the Inspire development of data specification for the annex 1 themes, the JRC (Joint Research Center) that directs the work, has contemplated 3 Possible Scenarios: Scenario 1: for the themes that have already harmonized specifications; Scenario 2: for the themes for which there are no harmonized specifications but raw Reference Material provided by Spatial Data Interest Communities (SDIC; e.g. Eurographics) or Legally Mandated Organisations (LMO s; e.g. n national agencies); and Scenario 3 for the themes that have nothing related to harmonised specifications. They considered that Cadastral Parcel, like the other themes of this annex 1, fits in the second scenario and asked SDIC/LMO to provide their experts to establish a Thematic working group on Cadastral Parcel that taking as reference material, amongst others, the two surveys of EuroGeographics and PCC, would elaborate the harmonized specifications. The role of this group was to contribute to the elaboration of the INSPIRE Implementing Rules for data specifications and to define DPS (Data Product Specifications) that will be converted in: Binding Implementing Rules or Nonbinding Guidelines. The thematic working group of cadastral parcel (TWG-CP) was composed by a Chairperson, a facilitator from IGN France; and UML modelling, ISO standards editor from Switzerland; thematic domain expertise from :NMA Hungary, NLS Finland, Cadastre- Spain, NMA Norway, TUD/Kadaster Netherlands, NMCA Denmark a JRC expert in LPSI and a JRC contact point. We incorporate into this paper part of the rapports prepared by Dominique Laurent (facilitator of the TWG-CP) that we consider relevant The TWG-CP had the instructions of following the general principles established by the INSPIRE directive: Harmonisation must be based on existing data Harmonisation must be done only if there are user requirements Harmonisation has to be feasible and cost-benefits have to be analysed The TWG must follow a general methodology At the end of February 2008 TWG-CP, always based in the 5 core elements defined by the surveys of EuroGeographics and PCC, started a step deeper survey asking for several aspects more related to harmonization of specifications: Cadastral divisions; Identifier : structure of the thematic identifier, existence of external identifier; Surface : legal/computed, where is it available (map/register), unit; Boundaries (geometry-topology); vector/raster data, line/polygon, 2D, 2,5D

8 or 3D data; Topology : gaps and overlaps; Origin/history: frequency of updating, : life-cycle rules; Georeferencement - Reference system; Quality/metadata; Delivery : formats, granularity and media, privacy issues etc With all this data the TWG-CP started what we consider the main part of our research: the evaluation of user requirements that we will describe with more detail in the next point. Gap analysis followed, studying what the users needed and what Inspire can provide. In September 2008 TWG-CP presented a first draft of data product specifications for its internal review by Inspire Data Specification Drafting team, EIONET, Commission etc These specifications have been defined searching always the common minimum between all the existing cadastral systems The TWG-CP has pointed out the most relevant aspects related to the five core elements unique identifier; area; boundaries; geo-reference; history and their repercussion in the national Cadastral Organizations. The TWG-CP came to the conclusions that in the Inspire context cadastral parcels will be used mainly as locators of geo-information. National cadastral registers generally contain more data than just cadastral parcels as Rights and owners but TWG-CP considered them outside INSPIRE s scope. However TWG- CP considered rights, owners, values and other data capable in a future of forming a part of the European SDI. Buildings, Addresses, Land cover and land use, often also part of cadastral data, were covered by other INSPIRE themes. So the definition that TWG-CP included in the Draft of Data specifications is a single area of Earth surface, under homogeneous real property rights and unique ownership (adapted from UNECE 2004 and Eurogeographics and PCC, 2007). Remark: By unique ownership is meant that the ownership is held by one or several joint owners for the whole parcel. Cadastral parcels definition of some countries do not match exactly with this definition but they have to provide for INSPIRE cadastral parcels even if their national parcels do not exactly match to it. And if a country has several levels of areas defined in cadastral registers (as defined in the INSPIRE definitions), they must provide for INSPIRE the level having the best correspondence with the TWG CP definition. The Cadastral Parcel in the INSPIRE draft specifications

9 - some mandatory elements that in this case are: Geometry INSPIRE identifier National Cadastral Reference Area Label that supports their identification on displayed maps - Some other elements that must be provide if available Life-cycle information, e.g. when the parcel has been inserted or changed in the dataset, and when the parcel has been superseded or retired Reference point, which is especially useful for visualisation purposes Topology in the sense of the connectivity of parcels - Interoperability is further supported by a common coordinate reference system and provisions for selecting a common projection system for cross-border applications. - For visualisation purposes, simple rules for default portrayal are given by specifying the colour and line-width of the borders of cadastral parcels and the index sets, as well as the font and size of the labels EuroGeographics - PCC Expert Group results (2005) showed that there were still raster data in 7 countries or more. The TWG CP as-is analysis showed that few countries will still have raster data in 2016 (deadline to comply IR for annex I themes) but the Commission considered vectorisation as new data capture and then TWG CP has decided to require only vector data. The TWG-CP considers that the generic use case for INSPIRE cadastral parcels is to serve as locators of geoinformation and that to be good locators, cadastral parcels must form (as far as possible) a partition of the national territory be single areas and cover the whole territory with the exception of public domain in some countries. For this reason is better to have parcels defined as single area, but this can be a problem in some countries. For example in the Nordic Countries because the unit of ownership recorded in land books is the Basic property unit that can have several parcels. INSPIRE identifier and National Cadastral Reference The executive summary of the draft specifications states: Cadastral parcels in INSPIRE should serve the purpose of generic information locators, i.e. searching and linking other spatial information. Having included national cadastral identifiers as a property (attribute) of the INSPIRE parcels, the content of a national cadastre or land register can be linked. Using this two-step approach information on the owners, rights, restrictions etc. may be accessed according to the national legislation on data protection.

10 Modeling concept of the cadastral parcel The specifications are based on a limited number of features, The specifications permit three attributes: Cadastral parcels (core data, mandatory) Cadastral index sets(auxiliary data, optional) Parcel boundaries (auxiliary data, optional). Metadata and Quality elements: The core elements of metadata are already included in the implementation rules about metadata for discovery and the TWG-CP has added the minimum of specific metadata necessary for Cadastral Parcel to achieve interoperability. Few metadata are considered by the TWG-CP compulsory but the specifications give recommendations (but no requirements) about quality to be achieved on the rate of missing elements: completeness (100%), thematic accuracy (100% for national cadastral reference), topological consistency (no gaps, no overlaps, edge-matching with neighbour data sets), positional accuracy, and update frequency. Public consultation and testing During January and February 2009 the second draft specifications has been open to the comments of the SDICs/LMOs and a testing period has been established that permits the cadastral agencies to study how to match existing data with INSPIRE defined specifications. At the time of writing the TWG is analysing the comments and the reports and examples of the testing. There having been not as many comments as expected and they have been related to relatively few issues: estimated accuracy on boundaries, calculated/officialarea, metadata, geometry of cadastral parcels (GM-Surface or GM-Multi-surface), association between cadastral parcels and cadastral index sets. Some of these comments may change some of the characteristics that we described mainly in the aspect of obligation/optional character. Relevant is that the TWG is trying to arrive at the minimum common that permits the harmonization of the different cadastral systems. In general the specifications are been considered as feasible (generally or at least partly) but in some cases as complex. The cadastral agencies have reported their problems and now the TWG-CP must consider the changes necessary.

11 11 Countries have participated in the tests. However 16 countries didn t participate in the test, some of them have expressed their difficulties in the consulting process but other group are totally aware of the specifications and the transformations that will be necessaries to achieve the common framework for the European Cadastre 3. USE CASES The INSPIRE directive established that harmonisation must be done only if there are user requirements at pan-european level or cros-border level and only if they are use cases linked with environment. Therefore in the selection of relevant use cases we have to include first of all some use cases that are based on European directives or policies (e.g. Common Agriculture Policy, Soil directive, Flood directive) which require Member States to deal with cadastral parcels in an harmonised way. However now a day s there is still not a harmonised European cadastre and apart from these European directives, there are not pan-european level or cros-border level use cases. Most of the use cases are just national or regional ones; however, TWG CP understanding is that, once harmonised cadastral data exists, there will be cross-border applications and the cadastral parcel will be very much used. Moreover, as cadastral data is generally used as background information for other themes, harmonisation of cadastral data may be considered as a precondition to harmonise maps involving some themes in Annex III, such as land use or utilities. For the Selection of relevant use cases the TWG-CP took the result of the user requirement survey launched by JRC in February 2008 with 10 use cases identified as real use cases : - LPIS - Europe - VINGIS vineyard cadastre - Hungary - PIR (Ragweed monitoring) - Hungary - Restriction on land use Netherlands - GéoPLU (urban planning) France - Urban planning Spain - Ruimtemonitor (indicators on land use) - Belgium - ADA road data base Belgium - SIRI Water supply Italy RWOGIS viewer Belgium,

12 TWG CP own expert proposals, the European directives or policies that we have just mentioned and the national users potentially cross-border in future. To established a methodology the TWG used a classification based again on the one provided by the EuroGeographyc PCC WG-CPI in 2005: Real Estate market Agriculture Environment Spatial planning Infrastructures, utilities Public land management Public safety Socio-economic analysis The study of the user requirements will be annex to the Inspire Data Specifications Document. We only wanted to put in this rapport the more characteristic examples Agriculture IACS LPIS (Integrated Administration and Control System Land Parcel Identification System) Member State have to establish an Integrated Administration and Control system with (a) a computerised data base, (b) an identification system for agricultural parcels, (c) a system for the identification and registration of payment entitlements, (d) aid applications, (e) an integrated control system, (f) a single system to record the identity of each farmer who submits an aid application. The Regulations detail how this IACS operates in an annual cycle of aid application by the farmer, the (antifraud) control by the administrations and the reimbursement of aid by the payment agency. This is the most interesting pan-european use case based on European regulation. Already some countries use the cadastral parcel as base of this system with much better results than other systems (lots or plots). Some examples of Environment applications Soil protection

13 The future Directive of the European parliament and the Council establishing a framework for the protection of the soil and amending Directive 2004/35/EC, aims at: 1) Support sustainable use of soils 2) Control the transboundary soil degradation process 3) Inventory of risk areas for soil degradation and contamination 4) Identification procedure (for implementing the "poluter pays" principle) 5) Prepare soil status reports 6) Raise awareness of sustainable use of soil, disseminated information about polluted areas The most significant effect that will derive from this Directive is that when there is an intention of selling a parcel of land where one of the potentially contaminating activities is taking or has taken place, the member States will ensure that the possible buyer receives a report regarding the situation of the soil, issued by an authorised person or public organisation that will define the situation regarding its alleged contamination. Consideration 25 : In order to assist in the rapid identification of contaminated sites, the owner of a site where, according to official records such as national registers or cadastres, a soil polluting activity has taken or is taking place, or the prospective buyer should, prior to completing the land transaction, provide relevant information on the status of the soil to the competent authority and to the other party in the transaction. The importance of the effects this Directive will have over the real-estate market acting in this type of soils is evident. And it is clear that for the application of this directive the mesh of property distribution and the cadastral data are needed Protected sites Cadastral parcels may be used to define the boundaries of protected sites. May be of interest also to define the environmental rights and duties applying to a parcel. This is not only European Level use case but also national use case as in the Nature GIS project: a Swedish example aims at evaluating the suitability of real estates for sale by showing on Internet maps the location of parcels and of other themes, e.g. public services or protected areas.

14 GMES Global Monitoring for Environment and Security GMES needs provide services to public policy makers and individuals, provide observations from in-situ data, integrate data and manage information and ensure long-term continuity of supply and demand. What Cadastral Agencies can do for GMES project? Deliver all the cadastral data for every parcel The data cadastral data are ready to use now, are long-term sustainable and update daily, available by internet and in many cases free of charge So GMES can contemplate the possible production of land use/land cover data by aggregation of data carried by cadastral parcels. From the TWG-CP user requirements study, we can conclude that the identified use cases gave a large and rather exhaustive range of applications involving cadastral data. But some times was difficult to imagine the user requirements at pan-european level as we have already said and the geographic extent of national use cases studied was limited. The EU y national policies require a new and better approach for land management for planning, adaptation, emergency, The minimum unit for land management is the cadastral parcel The cadastre is a very useful tool for the application of environmental policies, the current technical advances and the current legal support of INSPIRE allow us to adequately provide. This tendency can be extended to any policies needing the mesh of property distribution or other cadastral information The interoperability that the cadastral services will achieve by INSPIRE will have a strong impact on Public Services and also Value Added Services provided by the Private Sector As result of the user analysis that helped the TWG-CP to established the minimum data specifications necessaries has give us the vision of working together, members of cadastral organizations, nationals and European (PCC and Eurogeographic), with partners, customers and the European Commission to achieve interoperability of European cadastres and other GIS data and so help

15 the public and private sectors develop good governance, sustainable growth and benefit future generations. 4. LESSONS LEARNED In the process of drawing up specifications we as agencies have learned the following lessons: Start your activities early in the process of specification, preferably in cooperation with your international counterparts. In this way you can really make a difference in shaping the design. Use your national experience in proposing practical specifications instead of striving for modeling perfection. Keep it simple; this will stimulate a quick implementation and will stimulate user take-up. Agencies have a good view on and experience with implementing issues and have a daily interaction with their customers. If you do your homework properly, it is influential and welcomed by the European authorities. Drafting the proper specifications is a tedious operation. Bringing together various opinions, cultures and understanding each other takes time. This is certainly with cadastral issues, where many organizations have sometimes 200 years of experience. Public consultation and testing really improve the proposed solution. Working with use-cases makes you focus on the issues that really matter to end-users. 5. OUTLOOK We think that the cadastral parcel is an essential element in spatial data infrastructures. In national SDI s this has been the case for decades. At the European level the parcel will gradually evolve to be an increasingly important element. The surveys executed and the use-cases indicate that the parcel is an essential element in registering and sharing information in processes that are based on Europe-wide administrative and transactional processes. Existing examples are the LPIS (land parcel information service) as part of the Integrated Administrative and Control System (IACS) for Agricultural subsidies and the land market (e.g. the EULIS). The queries or information flows in these types of processes are related to one or a limited number of objects from a user s point of view, but are part of a larger framework of harmonized (or at least shared) working processes in the European Community.

16 In future it is foreseen that additional uses will emerge. In registering and monitoring contamination, land use or land erosion the parcel will be the pivotal object if information is required at the large-scales. It is our view that in the European SDI the parcel should be used as a locator for the foreseeable future. It is up to the various applications (be it land administration, agricultural subsidies, environmental monitoring) to attach content to the parcel. This provides flexibility in use. At the same time this approach makes implementation simpler. The use of the parcel as a locator is (generally) beyond discussion and avoids discussions on the access regimes if thematic information (e.g. property information) would be included. At the same time the ubiquitous presence of cadastres and land registries throughout Europe warrants the maintenance at the national level of the cadastral parcel and is at the basis of making the cadastral parcel a sustainable core element within the European spatial data infrastructure. REFERENCES EULIS, European Land Information Service: EuroGeographics and PCC (2007). The cadastal parcel in NSDI's and in INSPIRE. ( df_000.pdf) EuroGeographics (2007). Cadastre and Land Registration in Europe in ( 04visiontobepublished_2_.pdf) INSPIRE (2007). Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE); Official Journal of the European Union L108, ( ) INSPIRE (2008). Data specification on Cadastral Parcels DRAFT Guidelines, December 19, ( ons/inspire_dataspecification_cp_v2.0.pdf) Kaufmann, J. and D. Steudler (1998). Cadastre 2014, a vision for a future cadastral system. FIG Salzmann, M.A. and J. Ernst (2008). The cadastral parcel rejuvenated; evolving from property unit to core element in spatial data infrastructures.

17 Proceedings FIG Working Week 2008, Stockholm, Sweden June 2008 ( UNECE (2004); Guidelines on real property units and identifiers [and their importance in supporting effective national land administration and land management]; UN, Geneva. Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishes common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers. Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 of 21 April 2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system. Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 of 21 April 2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme. EU Council Regulation (EEC) No 649/87of 3 March 1987 laying down detailed rules for the establishment of a Community vineyard register Proposal/COM(2006) 32/ for a Directive of the EP and of the Council establishing a framework for the protection of soil and amending Directive 2004/35/EC: Based on COM (2000) 20 and COM (2001) 144 information on soil quality and soil erosion should be made available to facilitate integration of environmental measures to agricultural policy. Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks