Spatial Enablement and the Response to Climate Change and

All countries have to deal with the management of land. They have to deal with the four functions of land tenure, land value, land use, and land development in some way or another. A country’s capacity may be advanced and combine all the activities in one conceptual framework supported by sophisticated ICT models. More likely, however, capacity will involve very fragmented and basically analogue approaches. Land Administration Systems are the basis for conceptualizing rights, restrictions and responsibilities related to people, policies and places. Property rights are normally concerned with ownership and tenure whereas restrictions usually control use and activities on land. Responsibilities relate more to a social, ethical commitment or attitude to environmental sustainability and good husbandry. This paper provides an overall understanding of the land management paradigm towards spatially enabled government. Place matters! Everything happens somewhere. If we can understand more about the nature of “place ” where things happen, and the impact on the people and assets on that location, we can plan better, manage risk better, and use our resources better. The linkage between climate change adaptation and sustainable development should be self evident. Measures for adaptation to climate change and disaster risk management must be integrated into strategies for poverty reduction to ensure sustainable development and for meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The land management perspective and the operational component of land administration systems therefore need high-level political support and recognition.