Reasons for a Cadastral course at PhD  level

A. The current state of research training in the Nordic countries

Helsinki University of Technology hosts Graduate School in Real Estate and Facilities Management, KIITO. KIITO offers courses among others in Methodology, and in Facilities Management. The head of KIITO is prof. Kari I Leväinen of Institute of Real Estate Studies, Department of Surveying, HUT. Head of the Institute of Real Estate Studies is prof. Kauko Viitanen. KIITO mentions among its international faculty Hans Mattsson, KTH, Erik Stubkjær, Aalborg University, and Jaap Zevenbergen, TU Delft. Viitanen, Mattsson and Stubkjær are the organisers of the proposed activity together with Hans Sevatdal, Agricultural University of Norway, while Zevenbergen is among course lecturers.

KIITO is one of partners of Norden Graduate School for the Construction Sector, NOCS. The partner network of NOCS includes Aalborg University and the Royal Institute of Technology.

At the Agricultural University of Norway, Department of Land Use and Landscape Planning, prof. August E Røsnes in May 2003 organised the doctoral course Institutional Approaches to the Enabling of Plans in cooperation with Oslo School of Architecture. The course attracted about 10 students, including a group from the Middle East.

At the Graduate School of Infrastructure, Royal Institute of Technology, courses are offered for spring 2004 among others in Teoretiska grundvalar för fastighetsindelning (1F5409, prof Hans Mattsson, Fastighetsvetenskap, 7 participants from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Denmark), and in Microeconomic Theory (1F5314, ass.prof, dr. Hans Lind, Bygg- och Fastighetsekonomi), the latter course included real estate applications of theoretical models based on microeconomic theory.

At Nordregio, the Nordic Centre for Spatial Development in Stockholm, advanced courses are offered among others for professionals within the areas of local and regional planning and development.

At the International Doctoral School of Technology and Science at Aalborg University, the proposer of the present application with the above mentioned colleagues organised a similar one-week PhD course Cadastral Development - The Contribution of Scientific Enquiry in May 2003. The 10 course participants came from 8 countries: Denmark, Sweden (2), Latvia, Belarus (studying in Sweden), Armenia, Greece (2), Portugal and Czech republic (both studying in Denmark). Of the 10 participants, 9 were PhD candidates, while one came from public administration. The majority of participants (8) were female. Participants gained ECTS according to their involvement. Three participants passed a formal examination in writing, in addition to submitting a report and presenting their research, one submitted a report and presented it, and the remaining 6 presented their research in progress.

Course participants paid no fee, but generally had to carry costs for travels and accommodation, etc. themselves. The course was supported by a grant from Nordic Academy for Advanced Study, NorFA (15. April 2003, ref.nr. 030164) covering costs of travels and accommodation for 2 participants.

As appears from the above survey, formalised research training is emerging in the field of real estate. From a research point of view, the field is complex and related to economics, engineering, geography, law, political science, and spatial development. The usage of the English language in research tends to impose Anglo- American institutions and ways of thinking in analyses of Nordic conceptions of real property rights and related issues. This further complicates the structuring of research training.

Geodetic engineers (jordskiftekandidater, landinspektører, lantmätere, maanmittausinsinööri) have for decades maintained networks among professional associations, national surveys, and university staff. In the neighbouring field of geographical information systems, the conference series Scandinavian Research Conference on Geographical Information Science, ScanGIS has since 1985 provided a biennial forum for presentation of PhD projects, and recently provided PhD tutorials in such context. In the field of real estate, similar development has drawn out, partly due to the relatively small research units, partly due to the diverse history and institutional development of the Nordic countries, and the resulting diversity in law, administrative structures, and economic conditions.

The European research project Modelling Real Property Transactions addresses a theoretical core of real estate, as the research aims at providing a stronger basis for the reduction of costs of real property transactions. Researchers from about 10 European university departments cooperate within a frame provided by the European Science Foundation's scheme for Co-ordination in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST, G9). Comparable descriptions are prepared of main transactions, such as conveyance, mortgaging, subdivision, etc. in order to identify general functions. The costs for performing these transactions are estimated, and differences in performance and in costs are evaluated. The modelling language Unified Modelling Language makes the reference for modelling the transactions, while similarly the System of National Accounts (SNA93) provides reference for the cost estimates.

There are strong relations between COST G9 and the proposed PhD course, as 5 of the 7 persons involved in the proposed course are also involved in the COST action. The proposer chairs the Management Committee of the COST G9.

In Europe, courses of international scope with related content are offered at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, the Netherlands, and at the Centre of Land Management and Land Tenure, TU Munich. The courses offered are of Master level, formal courses aimed at PhD students seem not to be announced.

B. Reasons for the scientific content of the course

The multi-disciplinary field, addressing every aspect of  real property rights, is encompassing economics, engineering, geography, law, political science, and spatial development has found a focus in the practice and concept of the cadastre: A systematic and official description of land parcels, which includes for each parcel a unique identifier. Furthermore, the description includes text records on attributes of each parcel. The prototypical means of identification is a large-scale map that provides information on parcel boundaries (Silva, Stubkjær, 2002). The cadastre, with its spatial focus, locates real property rights that are recorded in land registers. Furthermore, the sense of mathematics and information technology provides another analytical approach to legal issues than those practised by scholars of jurisprudence. The outcome of such analyses may suggest restructuring of rules and practices, organisations and information systems. However, an understanding of elements of political science is needed to assess the effect of implementation measures. A consolidation of a substantial body of knowledge is emerging, supported by the mentioned COST G9 research and recent PhD-studies.

The 2003-version of the proposed Ph-course was formally evaluated according to the provisions of the mentioned Doctoral School at Aalborg University. Course participants are requested to prepare a 2-page questionnaire for the course as such, and a further page for each teacher. The following summarises the feed-back for the course. Of the 8 questions, 7 are standardised in terms of a 5 point rating scale. The summary is followed by a resume of responses to the open question and other comments made.

The 10 participants rated 'the course as a whole' as either Excellent (4 participants) or ticked the unnamed box next to Excellent (6). Generally, they found the 'general level of the course' Appropriate (7), while 1 considered it Too high and further 2 partly agreed on that. The 'relevance of content' was Very relevant (4), Appropriate (2), or between those ratings (4).
As regards details of course delivery, all participants' ratings were Appropriate (4) or better, and similar applies for course material. One remarked that instructions on paper and presentation material were given too late.
The workload was rated Appropriate by 8, the remaining tended to think it that was a bit too large. Most stated that the course lived up to the description, but it was noted also, that "one component - social science methods - did not get the announced coverage, due to the missing lecturer."
As regards free comments, several suggested repeated courses, e.g. "More courses in the area of Cadastral Development are necessary", "It should be repeated", "Please, arrange more courses like this! It is needed in our field". The international approach was appreciated, as well as "the good chance to exchange of scientific information with other PhD candidates." "The form and communication was pleasant and stimulating. Other course leaders could learn from the nice environment the course leader could establish". It was assessed that "(w)e are from different countries/ background, so the level cannot be higher".
The course was lectured by teachers from Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Portugal. Still it was suggested: "Why not under the co-operation of more universities?"

The proposed course content draws upon the former course, but also benefits from precisions and insights gained since then. It includes a survey of the research domain, with indication of international research centres. Two fields are covered in some detail: Real property rights, and the analysis of development projects within the domain. Both fields are central to the research domain, and difficult to master with sufficient rigor at the generally small research units in the Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe. Methodology issues are addressed both systematically as well as based on personal experience from performed research.

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