From past to present - development patterns of the Finnish land administration system

Abstract

The dynamic nature of land administration systems is widely acknowledged in cadastral literature. This paper uses a multi-level perspective framework (MLP) as a theoretical lens to study historical development of the Finnish land administration system. Four periods are formulated: (1) Land book period, (2) Development of early modern land administration system, (3) Transition to digital land administration system, and (4) New millennium and open data initiatives. Using the concepts of MLP as a backbone, the paper characterizes each period, the biggest changes related to it, as well as the wider societal developments and various niche-level innovations leading to period shifts. The paper also discusses how the development periods align in an international comparison. Altogether, the study increases the understanding of land administration transitions and provides perspectives also to the future development of land administration systems.