Cameralism and cadastral development - A narrative


Mercantilism is an economic doctrine applied in Europe during the 16th-19th centuries with different approaches e. g. as in Germany ‘Cameralism’, in French ‘Colbertism’ and in Spain ‘Bulyonizm’(Source?). The etymological root of the mercantilism comes from the Latin word mercari, which means “to run a trade”. Mercantilism aimed for reaching a wealthy society and a strong state by restricting import activities, increasing exporting revenues and to gain valuable mines e.g. gold and silver..
As mentioned above Cameralism is a German type of mercantilism and roots of the word ‘Cammer’ indicates treasury of the king or prince. However, Cameralism was not just an economic school unlikely other interpretations of mercantilism, but also is an administrative science which operated within the context of absolute authority of the state and focused on educating of state administrators for developing national assets, e.g in agriculture and industry.
In the Cameralistic period, inventories of national resources were started to provide for planning of the resources towards development and thus increasing prosperity of the society. However, the inventories, managed by public services also provided the means for increasing tax revenues. According to this view, information on land as a unique production factor of the state became available for the administrators from both qualitative and quantitative aspects.

The above-mentioned inventories of national reources and related services were called cadastres. What has survived to the present time is the understanding that cadastres were and are a means for taxation. Today, however, liberal thought rather interpret the cadastre as a tool which is enabling international land markets and followers of this idea try to develop visions for shaping the cadastre accordingly.

The last decades of development experiences suggest that the Cameralist way of development should be re-considered, especially for developing countries.
The development strategies of the last decades envisioned progress driven by the international market and consequently aimed at reducing the power of the states and open all doors for international investments.
The notion of cadastral development is based on the above historical-cameralist perspective and thus aims at sustaining national economic development through concerted action within the country, rather than though international (foreign) investments.