A multi-criteria performance assessment model for cadastral survey systems

Abstract

Cadastral survey is an indispensable land administrative function that measures and records boundary information on the land in order to facilitate operations of the land market. It establishes essential links between the administrative datasets and the land parcels on the ground. A cadastral survey system provides multi-dimensional information to facilitate the visualization and verification of the rights, restrictions and responsibilities on land parcels. The appropriateness of the design of a cadastral survey system influences the performance of the land registration and administration activities. Assessment on a cadastral survey system aims to gain understandings on the characteristics of the system such that the assessment is also an essential prerequisite to implement amendments and new policies to the system. Assessment results on the design and performance of the cadastral survey system can be regarded as an important knowledge-base for further system developments. Most assessment projects in the field of cadastre and land administration are either focusing on a broad aspect of land matters or using specific cadastral survey activity as an indicator to gain insights on particular issues. In addition, the evaluation and assessment datasets are often formed by readily available information with limited feedbacks. This research aims to provide means to express the general successfulness and fitness of cadastral survey systems, and indicates particular areas for its improvements. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based assessment model that consisted of a set of customized performance indicators was established. The contents of the assessment model were calibrated by a group of local cadastral survey professions and international experts. A participatory approach was designed to attract feedbacks from practitioners of the cadastral survey industry. Validation of a proposed conceptual assessment model is crucial to indicate the capability and feasibility of the model. A case study of the Hong Kong cadastral survey system was conducted using the established assessment model. The contents of the cadastral survey system in Hong Kong were reviewed with a focus on the historical cadastral surveying and mapping activities and the capacity developments in local cadastral survey industry. Questionnaires were designed to collect opinions on 1) the relative importance of various performance aspects in contributing a fit-for-purpose cadastral survey system; 2) performance gaps between the currently achieved system performance and a fit-for-purpose system performance; and 3) information questions on the system performance level. Under the coordination of the Land Surveying Division of The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, feedbacks were collected from its members. The collected assessment datasets were processed and analyzed in groups. From the assessment, Hong Kong equipped an overall workable cadastral survey system. There was a lack of legal support for the system to provide reliable boundary records and legitimate survey results. The system performance in the technical perspective was regarded as the strength of the system. Practitioners in the public sector had high expectations on the performance of the cadastral survey system. Young surveyors were more optimistic on the performance of the cadastral surveysystem. The result shows that consistent and stable evaluation patterns on the current Hong Kong cadastral survey system has been achieved. The case study of the Hong Kong cadastral survey system indicates the high capability of the designed multi-criteria assessment model and the applied participatory approach in investigating the development of individual cadastral survey systems. In addition, the assessment criteria set is not fixed to the applied set in Hong Kong. All different systems world-wide can develop their evaluation criteria to better meet the design of their own cadastral survey systems. Meanwhile, those model normalized performance scores can still be applied as a set of international benchmarking elements to share understandings on the development cadastral survey systems and shed lights on areas for improvement.