Integrated Real Estate Registration and Chinese NSDI to Strengthen the Government Spatial Data Management: Spatial Enablement in the Smart Homeland

The China Government enacted the Provisional Regulations on Real Estate Registration (RER) in July 2015. These regulations were in full operation from the beginning of 2016. In this context, real estate refers to land, sea, houses, trees and other fixed objects which have spatial distribution and are subject to social and economic activities in the same time. The RER provides opportunities to strengthen the Chinese National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), because the RER involves spatial information which can be shared with stakeholders of the NSDI. The paper explores the relationship between the Chinese NSDI and RER in order to find a mutual way to inspire their developments in the same time. This exploration includes several issues. First, a clear definition of sharable information is necessary which helps to reduce data duplication and extend the application of Chinese NSDI. Second, there must be a common recognition and strong coordination among powerful ministries which can improve the adjustment of business processes. Third, reasonable mechanisms and feasible approaches should be explored from different perspectives to underpin the spatial governance level. Fourth, government administrators must achieve the strategic benefits of integrating RER and NSDI from multiple perspectives, and fifth the influence and profile should be evaluated based a long term consideration. The development of NSDIs is a dynamic process and the performance of RER is a key point for the Chinese NSDI. By integrating RER, the Chinese NSDI can penetrate to the actual process of government management and improve the capability of spatially assistant decision-making