The cadastre as a socio-technical system
The combination of the two fields of investigation: cadastre and socio-technical system, was made in the context of a European research action on Modelling Real Property Transactions (ESF/COST action G9) with the objective of a better understanding of both concepts. Here some aspects of the research in progress are provided by first listing the main elements identified and then closing the note with a discussion.
The technical elements
The technical elements identified were the following:
- Global positioning and Earth-observation satellites
- Coordinate measuring devices (equipment for surveying and mapping)
- Computers and networks
- Information carriers (hard disks, paper, stones)
While the first three elements depends on the law of nature in their functioning, this cannot be said for the information in the system. The element of information carriers includes the physical manifestations of letters, figures, as well as lines, etc. on a map. The interpretation of these marks, for example to make sense of the text, or to recognize a boundary mark as such, depend on some social code. However, information carriers are considered a technical element, because memorial stones and boundary marks use gravity to stay in position. A similar (relative) permanence of matter can be found regarding text and their appearance in documents, etc. The permanence make us take the recordings as trustworthy testimonies or memorials of past agreements and decisions. However, it is the combination of permanence with social code, which effect the trust. Thus, the issue of information in the system is further addressed in the context of the Social elements.
The actors
As actors of the cadastral system, the following were identified:
- Owners and other holders of rights
- Authorities (Government, including the judiciary, the police, and fiscal bodies; municipalities; civil servants, municipal officers)
- Companies (Professionals: Lawyers, surveyors,.. ; Financial institutions: Banks, ..; Software vendors and service providers)
- Educational and research organisations (Universities, ..)
- Groups (Squatters, social movements)
The three first-mentioned elements; owners, authorities, and companies are intuitively obvious. Schools were added, as reflection of present systems and new conceptualisations are, as a historical fact, part of the system under scrutiny. Groups were included for several reasons: From an engineering point of view, the functioning of a system may be disturbed by group action. Similarly, people who squad an area or a building are sometimes acting or being treated as a group. Furthermore, indigenous people form such groups, and while their rights may not be formally recognized, their importance and influence can be substantial.
| Formal | Informal |
|---|
| Legislation (establishing rights and obligations) | Social norms/ values (trust) Customary law |
| Statutes (of organisations, etc.) | |
| Standards (of technical nature) | Tacit knowledge |
| Study programmes | Socialization |
| Procedures | Rituals |
| Databases, archives; documents and mapsMarkers (of legal boundaries, of place names) |
Social code(Domain) language |