Quality improvement of cadaster in sweden

Quality Improvement of the Cadastral Information in Sweden
Ewa Swensson
Head of Cadastral Department in the Scania and Halland Districts in Lantmäteriet, Sweden
ewa.swensson@lm.se

Abstract

This paper gives a brief overview of the ongoing process with quality improvement of the Cadastral Information in Sweden. Furthermore it describes the implemented methods and the problems that haveoccurred during the process.
The paper begins with an outline of the Swedish Cadastral System and its relevant register and cadastral index map.

Introduction

General Facts about Sweden

Sweden is a long country in northern Europe. It stretches from approximately 55 degree N in the south to 69 degree N in the north. In size Sweden is comparable with Iraq or Morocco, and in Europe withSpain.
Examples of countries that have approximately the same population as Sweden – about 9 million – are Bulgaria and Zimbabwe. The majority of the population lives in the southern and central part due to topography, climate and historical reasons.
Extending over 1500 kilometres, the southern Sweden is mainly agricultural land. The central part of Sweden is diverse with forest and the northernpart is characterised by forest and mountains.
Administratively the country consists of 21 counties, divides into 290 municipalities. There is a proposal under discussion to minimize the counties to six or eight unions.
Private persons, companies, organisations, municipalities or the state own all land. There are more than 3, 9 million real property units in the Swedish Real Property Register.Aim and structure of this paper

The aim of this paper is to present a brief introduction to the Swedish Real Property Register and how Lantmäteriet (National Land Survey of Sweden) works with quality improvement. At the end an idea about quality improvement issues in the future is given.

The Cadastral History

The cadastral system in Sweden originates from the 16th century, when the kingGustaf Wasa imposed tax on landholders around the country. This early recordings only covered information about possessor and liability to pay tax and was documented in books by the Crown. There was no mapping.
Nation-wide small-scale geometric maps were created in 1628 and later. At that time rural villages were split up into very small parcels. The extensive enclosure movement spread aroundthe country by land consolidation and reallotment during the early 19th century. Much of the basic parcel structure of that time can still be found in the countryside today.
Changes in real property divisions in Sweden are handled by a publicly employed lantmätare, cadastral surveyor.

The Real Property Register

The whole of Sweden is divided into real property units except for the mountainareas and some larger localities where the information is in the process of being built up. The Real Property Register is a description of the cadastral data in text format. Of Sweden’s four millions property units 3,9 are currently included with complete property keys. This means that approximately 98% of the country’s real properties are depicted as closed polygons and linked to the RealProperty Register’s centroid coordinate.
The division of the real estate is strictly juridical as it is described in the act for the property origin. All acts are now transferred into a digital archive. The contents of the acts have been arranged in the Real Property Register. The rules about the content in the Register have varied, due to changes in juridical legislation. A large amount ofinformation about the real property units is not in the Register. Lantmäteriet gives support in the creation of an efficient and sustainable use of Sweden’s Real Property Register

The real property units are accounted for in sixteen divisions. The various division contain particulars of
• Register designation
• Administrative identity
• Former register designation
• Origin
•...