Cadastre in West Europe

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For historical reasons, there are basic similarities among all the cadastres of Western Europe. They are all, in one way or another, based on the principles of the French cadastre as defined by Napoleon early in the nineteenth century. A basic principle was that it should consist of the two main parts: a verbal description and a map showing the locations and boundaries of all land units. The maps were established systematically, area by area, by relatively uniform cadastral surveys, which produced not only the maps but also the field notes on which they were based. The unique cadastral number of each land unit – normally the parcel rather than the farm unit – served as a link between map and description. Since the main purpose was taxation, the original cadastre was arranged according to the names of the owners, showing each owner's parcels with area, land use, arranged according to the numbers of the parcels.

An important feature of these developments is the connection between the cadastre and the land register. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, there is nowadays a very close link between cadastres and land registers. In the Netherlands, both are maintained by the same organization in common offices. In other countries mentioned above, the legal units used in the land registers are also identical with the cadastral units or combinations of them. Because of the unique definitions in the cadastral records and maps, it has been possible to introduce systems of title registration with a high degree of security and reliability in all these countries.

In France – the mother country of the cadastre – the unification of the cadastre and the land register has not progressed as far. For one thing, the French cadastre is not as comprehensive nor is it maintained in quite the same way as in the aforementioned countries. It also has less legal validity, and is still mainly a fiscal cadastre lacking the very close link between cadastre and legal land registers.

A common trait in all of Western Europe is that the cadastre provides systematic coverage of the entire territory, and that collected and recorded data are continually updated. Parcels are described according to their uses, square measures and taxation values, their buildings and topography; ownership is recorded; links to other administrative registers and files are established. A general trend is that the original fiscal aspect of the cadastre is becoming less and less pronounced, while its role as the basis of a general land information system is assuming increasing importance.

In all Western European countries, cadastral maps are used for many purposes. In Switzerland, for example, the towns often produce extremely accurate municipal maps based on cadastral information. The integration of cadastral surveys with other kinds of large scale mapping for urban purposes is a common trend in other countries within the region as well. With regard to the cadastral survey, there has generally been a trend towards using increasingly accurate methods, and at the same time, assigning more and more weight to the demarcation of boundaries and to agreements between the owners.

While cadastral maps were originally of the "island map" type, depicting only the cadastral block or section in question, they now increasingly take the form of "comprehensive maps" covering a standard-sized map sheet. This is partly a consequence of the transformation from taxation cadastres to multipurpose cadastres. It is also due to the fact that nowadays all cadastral surveys in Western Europe are adapted to a national grid with a common co-ordinate system. It is, therefore, also possible to integrate cadastral surveying and general topographical surveying, and to use a common sheet division for both types of surveys.

The administration of the cadastre is organized in a variety of ways in different countries. In Germany and the Netherlands, the cadastral authorities were initially government officers connected to the Ministry of Finance. But as a consequence of the expanded function of the cadastre as the basis of a multipurpose land information system, the Dutch cadastre, for example, was reorganized as a separate division within the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and the Environment. In other countries like France, Switzerland and Belgium, the principle work of cadastral surveying is left to licensed surveyors.

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