Territorial governance in the context of cadastre and registry management: Guatemala’s case

The objective was to determine territorial governance in the context of cadastre and land registry management in Guatemala. The principles underlying cadastral management, considered an example of improved territorial governance, can be summarized as six: effective and efficient land use and valuation; improved security and certainty in real estate transactions; use as a basis for fiscal management; promoting equity; creating a solid base of reliable spatial data to support development and decision-making; and developing partnerships between land-owning administrations. This study began by identifying the theoretical elements that characterize subnational governance, which in this case are embedded in the development of the cadastre and property registry, tools of territorial management. It was evident that both the cadastre and the registry appear to be lagging behind other countries, even at the level of territorial governance; actions follow a path based on routine frameworks with little innovation in their internal relevance and their integration into broader political-institutional frameworks. This creates a legal impediment to collecting certain revenues that are being collected by autonomous bodies due to a higher regulation, reassessments of cadastral values, or allocations under the guise of fulfilling obligations.