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AN INTEGRATED 3D CADASTRE - MALAYSIA AS AN EXAMPLE 
M. I. Hassan, M. H. Ahmad-Nasruddin, I. A. Yaakop, and A. Abdul-Rahman 
Dept of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Engineering,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 
81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia - (imzan, hasif, alias)@fksg.utm.my 
KEY WORDS: 3D, Cadastre, Integration, Spatial Objects, DBMS 
ABSTRACT: 
In Malaysia, the cadastre system is controlled by two main agencies, namely, Department of Surveying and Mapping Malaysia 
(DSMM) and Land Offices (L.O). The DSMM is responsible for the cadastral spatial information i.e. land parcel boundaries. The 
mission is to enhance quality in surveying and mapping services along with managing the geospatial data. On the other hand, Land 
Office is responsible for the cadastral attribute information i.e. legal rights that attached to the cadastral objects or plots. The current 
system only involves with 2D maps and no effort towards 3D registration yet. This paper discusses 3D cadastre in the aspect of 
property registration i.e. complex building and overlapping properties on different land use. We also discuss the interoperability of 
the two systems between the two different agencies. This 3D cadastre registration will serve as a first attempt to develop a more 
complete Integrated Malaysian 3D Cadastre System. A complex system needs a clear and concise method to show the representation 
of data, and here we utilize Unified Modeling Language (UML) for the data modeling task as it has been considered better technique 
for such real world data modeling like cadastre data compared to the traditional entity relationship approach. Besides 3D registration, 
the paper also discusses 3D modeling, 3D geo databasing and 3D visualization. Malaysia could embark on this 3D cadastre system 
relatively straight forward since it has good 2D cadastre framework. From the research and discussion it can be realized that the 
hybrid approach certainly would be a good to start with. This approach means preservation of 2D cadastre and the integration of the 
registration of the situation in 3D by registering 3D situations integrated and being part of the 2D cadastral geographical data set. 
Nevertheless it is reasonable to believe that there are some irregularities and different information as both systems operates 
separately. This situation shall trigger a good basis why there is a need for the integration. The challenge is to transform the proposed 
model into computer means i.e. logical model. The validation of logical model will be then encoded in the spatial database. Spatial 
DBMS is the foundation for both GIS (presentation, analysis) and CAD (creating models). It offers spatial data type in its data model 
structure and also in the query language and it can interact with the spatial DBMS. This paper elaborates on an integration of Oracle 
Spatial and Autodesk Map 3D for an integrated 3D Cadastre. The 3D Cadastre database development especially on the aspect of 3D 
objects registration form major contributions of the paper towards the development of an integrated 3D Cadastre. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Mid of 2006, population of Malaysia increases to 26.64 million 
and it course the real properties registered increase rapidly. The 
properties can be divided into two, which are movable and 
immovable properties. However, the properties considered in 
this research are only the immovable properties which are land 
and building registrations that fall in the category of cadastral 
objects. The Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia 
(DSMM) claimed to have a total of 6.4 million cadastral lots 
(immovable properties) nationwide (Chong 2006). 
Traditionally, cadastral registration systems are parcel based 
systems and it is in 2D nature. 2D cadastre mapping is practiced 
in Malaysia and at the moment it provides vital land and 
property information like ownerships of the parcels for most 
parts of the country. Obviously current cadastral information 
serves most of the users need for decades. However in very near 
future this 2D information may not be able to serve for more 
advanced situations for example in large city centres (see 
Figure 1) because one way to deal with this situation is by 
having a more advanced cadastral system like 3D cadastre. This 
means we need to extend the 2D system into a three- 
dimensional (3D) (Abdul-Rahman et al. 2005b). The 
disadvantage of the solutions to register 3D property units in 
current cadastral registration is that the 3D information is not 
integrated in the spatial part of the cadastral database. Therefore 
it is impossible to view the 3D situation interactively. Technical 
and institutional aspects have to be considered before the 
implementations of 3D cadastre system for Malaysia can be 
embarked. 
This paper discusses the integration of 3D cadastre object with 
the current registration of the 2D cadastre parcel. Section 2 
Figure 1: Example of 3D situations in Kuala Lumpur