Organising land information for sustainable land administration

Property ownership rights are well managed and understood in developed countries. They are backed by long-standing theoretical, legal and institutional frameworks. In contrast, many new property interests created by governments in response to concerns for sustainability are often poorly managed and understood. If we are to achieve sustainability objectives, the design and administration of these interests must improve. To do this effectively, a shared understanding of property interests and their role must first be developed. This paper introduces the property object, a tool for describing, comparing and classifying all interests in land and natural resources using five key attributes: the objective, actions regulated, spatial extent, duration and the people impacted. The tool provides a system for structuring and ordering information about land in the virtual environment to better deliver sustainable land management. The concept of the property object was developed by analysing all the legislated land interests within the three levels of government in Australia, but it is universally applicable. It builds on existing theories and approaches to understanding and managing land rights and recognizes the substantial changes in property theory since WWII.