Making Land Legible

This report describes the past, present, and future role of cadastres as a land policy tool in Latin America. It shows how national, regional, and local jurisdictions have used updated orthodox and/or multipurpose cadastres (MPCs) to strengthen urban financing and inform planning decisions. The report also recommends best practices and policies for planners and policy makers to implement MPCs.

About the Authors

Diego Alfonso Erba is a land surveyor engineer specializing in cadastres and geographic information systems. As a fellow in the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Program on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from 2004 to 2013, he taught on and researched cadastres in Latin America and developed the LAC Program’s distance education program. As an independent consultant, he has worked with local, regional, and national governments in several countries in Latin America.

Mario Andrés Piumetto is a land surveyor specializing in geographic information systems and cadastres. He is part of the teaching faculty in the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and professor at the School of Surveying at the National University in Córdoba, Argentina. He was formerly director of cadastre of the city of Córdoba.