Current developments in 3D-cadastre with examples from the Netherlands and the Russian Federation

The world is (at least) three dimensional in our perception although when it comes to representation we have become used to the simplification of the ‘reality’ into two dimensions (2D). Most situations in a cadastre can be represented in 2D on a map without that this representation causes too many uncertainties or queries. However, with current developments in architecture, registration of apartment rights and underground cables and pipelines the representation of real estate objects in 2D is often no longer adequate in representing unambiguously the ‘reality’ (Figure 1). In the case of apartment rights a three dimensional drawing is sometimes provided to furnish an idea where in the building these rights are located. Modern technologies, however, allow us increasingly to represent the ‘reality’ in three dimensions (3D). Technologies for creating and managing 3D-geoinformation have matured while costs for such information and 3D-tools have significantly decreased. These tools enable us to represent the ‘reality’ in an improved manner. Ongoing developments will allow us to represent the ‘reality’ in future even in 4D (including time) (Van Oosterom et al. 2006) and 5D (including time and scale dimensions) (Van Oosterom and Stoter 2010).