ICT enabled land administration systems for sustainable development: the Danish way

This paper analyses the current Land Administration System (LAS) in Denmark with a focus on institutional arrangements, land policies, land information infrastructure, and the four land administration functions: land tenure, land value, land-use, and land development. The analysis, this way, builds on the land management paradigm. Some challenges and barriers are identified and the key initiatives for improvement are described. It is concluded that the system works well in the sense that it supports sustainable development through an efficient land market and effective land-use management. The property layer (the cadastre) is well integrated as the basis for a land information infrastructure in support of all four land administration functions. Furthermore, the LAS is well tailored for a decentralised approach to land-use management placing the decisionmaking power at regional and especially local level. However, the land information infrastructure is complex and needs continuous attention to be adapted to ITC developments. Also, some institutional arrangements could be improved and, more generally, there is need for improving the awareness the land management area as coherent whole.