SURVEYING AND POLITICS - A RELATIONSHIP OF MUTUAL
BENEFIT
Prof. Holger MAGEL, Vice President of FIG,
Germany
Key words:
Abstract
In the course of political changes (e.g. in countries in
transition), global UN-campaigns (e.g. UNCHS (Habitat) campaigns on
security of tenure and urban governance) and international
declarations (such as Agenda 21 from the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro on sustainable development) or disasters (e.g. wars,
earthquakes, floods), services of surveyors have received a growing
economic and societal importance. In many places, there is, however,
still a 'silence' between surveyors and politicians. Often, surveyors
are not at all interested in political issues connected to their work.
Politicians, politics, polities and policies are considered to be from
another discipline or even 'from out of space' - especially from the
perspective of universities. It is very significant that there are
almost no surveyors in German or other parliaments.
From the perspective of the author, this reluctance is wrong.
Examples from land registration, cadastre, geo-information,
geo-data-systems and land readjustment show that - in times of global
challenges, changing professions, and the increasing overlapping with
neighbouring disciplines - surveyors need politicians and their
support and decisions more than ever. This is true for universities,
administration, economy and liberal profession.
At the same time, politics and society also need the surveyor's
services and their advice with regard to reconstruction,
transformation and development.
FIG can play an important role to support and enable this essential
dialogue between politicians (policy) and surveyors (surveying). The
results achieved so far by the present and previous Bureaux and
Commissions as well as by UN-FIG-Liaison-Director Ian Williamson tell
their own story. The paper shows how this strategy will be continued
and extended in the future - for the mutual benefit of surveying and
policy.
CONTACT
Univ. Prof. Dr-Ing. Holger Magel
Vice President of FIG
Chair of Land Readjustment and Land Development
Technische Universität München
Institute of Geodesy, GIS and Land Management
Arcisstrasse 21
D-80290 München
GERMANY
Tel. + 49 89 289 22535
Fax + 49 89 289 23933
E-mail: magel@landentwicklung-muenchen.de
22 March 2001
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