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Abstract Land reforms for addressing economic issues are required to conform to equity, socio-cultural and other landa governance concerns. This article reviews customary/communal tenure, and land reform mechanisms for optimising economic and social outcomes for countries where this type of tenure predominates. The experiences of two land groups, the Orogwangin and the Polulve Mahevie, that have engaged with the group incorporation mechanism of addressing customary communal tenure in Papua New Guinea are described and discussed. It was found that these narrow legal reform mechanisms distort customary/communal practices, forcing conflicts and subsequent subdivisions of groups in some instances. The lack of capacity of the state institutions to service the new requirements for maintaining the recording of group characteristics is notable as well. Vulnerable groups are left to negotiate with powerful business entities for appropriate terms and compensation for use of their land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was assisted by the Australian government's aid agency, AusAID, with technical input from UNHabitat and the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in the developing of regional land policy guidelines that will address the most critical land issues being faced by the countries. A key aspect of this project was to evaluate pro-poor land tools that would provide comprehensive land administration and thus facilitate the equitable use and allocation of the limited land resource in the sub-region. This initiative provided for and included an opportunity for introducing the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) to support economic, social or environmental land policy goals. The individual member states of the OECS committed to participate in the project notwithstanding existing institutional shortcomings that may affect implementation. This paper reviews the major characteristics in land administration shared by most of the OECS countries that will affect the implementation of the STDM which is based on the LADM international standard ISO 19152:2012. It then presents a proposed STDM profile that will address the land issues common to most of the OECS states. Lastly, it presents the preliminary results of pilot testing of an implementation of the STDM, software version 0.9.5, developed by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN). The pilot was conducted in Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The primary aim was to examine the practical and social implications of implementing the recording process for informal tenures using the STDM software developed by the GLTN. It was found that some of the technical process went smoothly but middle and lower middle income groups are resistant to the idea of recognising informality because they perceive difficulties in differentiating between legitimate land tenure rights and illegal occupation and use, and because they anticipate impacts on their own legal tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D cadastres are primarily described for high-valued urban property. • 3D cadastres can be demonstrated to be useful for supporting secure tenure in high density informal settings. • LiDAR data, at low cost specification are not ideal but can be used to prepare the graphic component of the 3D cadastre for low-income environments. Much of 3D cadastre research and development targets high valued urban land, including condominiums, apartment buildings, and office complexes. The value of the land and the economic activity generated from transactions in this urban space potentially support the cost and time spent on establishing and maintaining a 3D cadastre. Methods for data acquisition and for construction and maintenance of the 3D cadastre are also simpler in the regular and formally planned and surveyed structures of the high value urban environment. Low-income, urban areas of informal tenure and informal development, however, also need and can benefit from a land administration system supported by a 3D cadastre but are neglected in the 3D cadastre research. Mechanisms are required for quick and cost effective construction of a 3D cadastre in this type of area to support land management and regularisation procedures, and to provide security of tenure. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is one technology that may be examined to differentiate structures in densely occupied environments where limited information and limited resources must be able to be used for managing the land and also protecting informal rights. This paper initially posits the need for 3D cadastres in low-income but densely structured urban settlements. It then tests the ability of an existing LiDAR dataset together with orthoimagery, derived to be low cost so therefore having limited specifications, for capturing sufficient definition of 3D occupation in the low-income, densely structured case study area of Laventille in Trinidad and Tobago. The difficulties of manually or automatically discriminating between close and overlapping structures and boundaries are highlighted and it is found that there is still a need for adjudication and verification of boundaries on the ground, even when physical features can be discerned from the software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]