IN Azerbaijan “392 land plots used to be owned by municipalities were sold in Azerbaijan through tenders and auctions. State Committee for Land and Cartography of Azerbaijan has reported that there were held 177 auctions in January, 150- in February and 65- in March.”

These efforts are changing the pattern of land ownership in the country and resulting in a shift from government ownership of the land within the country to a more privatised ownership system. Land reform can result in several changes including those that involve population movements, economic activity and impacts on the environment. 

The Philippines recently launched a regional GIS Centre. It is expected that these centres will help to explain and educate regional inhabitants about the economic benefits that arise through land management. 

In a similar approach, France and Vietnam are closely working together to link land management operations with GIS, surveying and and other geospatial tools. “Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Manh Hien said the GIS has been applied in Vietnam in agriculture-forestry planning, forest management, archives of geology, topographic and land survey, urban management.”

As land reforms take place, new development arises. But the process appears to begin with steps taken in terms of land ownership.