Modernization of Real Estate Registration in Brazil in Light of the LADM: Advances and Challenges for Spatial Land Governance

Resumo

Brazil has a vast territory and, for many years, lacked effective mechanisms to control property transfer and spatial land governance. The creation of the General Mortgage Registry in 1843 represented the Brazilian state's first step toward legalizing property ownership, land control, and land security. This traditional registration model, although it has undergone modifications, remains in force today, but it presents significant limitations, particularly regarding the discrepancy between the property information recorded in the registration and the reality found on the ground. In recent years, initiatives have sought to align registry data with international land administration standards, notably the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), established by ISO 19152:2012, recently updated to the ISO 19152-1:2024, -2:2025, -3:2024, -4:2025, and -5:2025 families. Notable in this context are the creation of the National Registration Code (CNM) in 2023 and the establishment of the Geographic Information System of the Real Estate Registry (SIG-RI) in 2025, which resulted in the consolidation of the Brazilian Real Estate Registry Map platform, made available free of charge to the public. This article analyzes these initiatives, with an emphasis on the current stage of development and application of geotechnologies to the Brazilian Real Estate Registry, assessing how they align with the LADM model. The research is qualitative and exploratory in nature. The results indicate that these initiatives align with the fundamental principles of the LADM, such as the unique identification of parcels and the spatialization of properties through georeferenced polygons, although they present weaknesses due to Brazil's vast territory and regional technological inequalities. Although in the initial phase of consolidation, they have shown promise for registry modernization and the strengthening of spatial land governance in Brazil, aligning with international standards.