Land Administration and Spatial Data Infrastructure: the Special Forum on Development of Land Information Policies in the Americas, Aguascalientes, Mexico

As a result of a resolution at the Seventh United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for the Americas (UNRCCA) held in January 2001 in New York, a Special Forum was hosted by the Government of Mexico through INEGI at their headquarters in Aguascalientes on 26 and 27 October 2004 with a theme of “The Development of Land Information Policies in the Americas”. FIG was tasked with taking the lead role in planning and arranging the Special Forum. The objective of this inter-regional forum was to establish an awareness of the economic and social value for decision makers, of the importance of developing land policies that effectively and efficiently incorporate appropriate spatial data infrastructures, including an understanding of the value of integrating the land administration/cadastre/land registration function with the topographic mapping function. This paper presents an overview of the profile and the outcome of the special forum in terms of the “Aguascalientes Statement” which is tabled at the Eighth UNRCC-A, June 2005 in New York.