The Ontology and Modelling of Real Estate Transactions

Due to differences in the legal systems and business environments, it is difficult to compare the process of buying and selling land in different European countries. Illustrated by a range of European case studies, this book identifies and discusses the problems of this and similar comparisons. It then examines how ontological modelling can be applied to real estate transactions and advocates this as a basis for comparing the various processes used across Europe. The book consists of four parts: the economic, legal and ontological aspects of real property transactions; a discussion of the current situation in different countries, thus showing the heterogeneity and complexity of processes that have to be captured; whilst the third and fourth parts describe ontological modelling and its benefits for the purpose of understanding the nature of real property transactions together with examples of modelling techniques applied to cadastre and real property.

Contents: Cadastre, Law and Economics: Modelling real property transactions, Erik Stubkjœr; Aspects of real property rights and their alteration, Hans Mattsson; Real estate: foundations of the ontology of property, Leo Zaibert and Barry Smith. Requirements and National Perspectives: Purchase of real property in Finland, Kauko Viitanen; Property transactions in the UK: a situation of institutional stability or technical change?, Robert Dixon-Gough and Mark Deakin; Land tenure and real property transaction types in Latvia, Armands Auzins. Ontological Modelling: Modelling real estate transactions: the potential role of ontologies, Ubbo Visser and Christoph Schlieder; A tool-supported methodology for ontology-based knowledge management, York Sure; Building a foundation for ontologies of organizations, Chris Partridge and Milena Stefanova. Systems Engineering: Conceptual modelling of cadastral information system structures, Rados Sumrada; Ontology construction for geographic data set integration, Harry Uitermark; Glossary; Index.