Development of a comprehensive web-based land information system for Kisii Municipality

Abstract

The land management paradigm is centered on having a land administration system that is built in a manner that it is capable of supporting key LA functions namely; land tenure, value, use and land development. The Land Information System consists of cadastral maps, non-spatial, thematic land datasets and attributes of information contained in the cadastral registers and land related records. An ideal LIS is expected to be a replica of land information as it spatially exists on the ground vis-à-vis that which is captured and documented in the land administration systems. Within the Kisii Municipality, there exist instances of parcel overlaps and mismatches between the cadastre and the actual ground parcel positions. This situation has led to loss of money due payments made over wrong properties shown and also led to the escalation of land disputes resulting in protracted litigations. The available LIS is also manual and manually accessed, spatial information about the land parcel i.e., the beacon coordinates, location, geometry, the coordinate reference systems (CRS), and the map in its entirety is left out. This project therefore aims to provide an automated Land Information System that integrates both spatial and non-spatial attributes accessed through a web portal interface. Real-time checks on the position of the land parcel on the ground will also be provided for through an algorithm that converts parcel boundary coordinates into KML files capable of providing actual ground location through Google Earth satellite imagery. Coordinate inter-reference system conversions will also be catered for. Survey plans (F/Rs) for Kisii Municipality Block II were obtained. Coordinates defining the parcels’ beacon were plotted on QGIS working space, parcel polygons were created and thus provided a basis for inputting spatial and non-spatial attributes. The entries resulted in a LIS data base. An algorithm was created to link the LIS database to the web portal. The WEB Portal was developed using: Python, JavaScript, HTML and CSS. The HTML was used to define the content of web pages, CSS was used to specify the layout of web pages while Python and JavaScript were used to program the behaviour of web pages. Searches on the web portal were executed to display both spatial and non-spatial attributes. Real-time identification of parcel ground location through Google Earth imagery was achieved as well as the coordinate conversion from one Coordinate Reference System to the other (Cassini Soldner, Arc 1960 UTM Zone 36S and WGS 84 geographic).