From global benchmarking to local policy readiness: Assessing governance capacity for multipurpose cadastre implementation

Multipurpose cadastre implementation is increasingly promoted as a key instrument for improving land administration, urban planning, taxation, service delivery, and land governance. However, local capacity to operationalise such systems remains uneven, particularly in peri-urban contexts where land pressure, institutional fragmentation, and weak cadastral documentation coexist. This study develops and tests a governance-readiness framework for assessing local capacity to support multipurpose cadastre implementation. Drawing on a purposive benchmarking sample of sixteen localities selected from a preliminary longlist of candidate cases across Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America, the study combines normalised governance indicators with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Governance readiness is modelled as a second-order formative construct, while Performance of Land Governance (PLG) is specified as a reflective outcome construct. The results show a strong positive relationship between governance readiness and PLG, with a standardised path coefficient of β = 0.849 and an explained variance of R² = 0.721. Robustness checks using Spearman rank correlation and ordinary least squares regression confirm the stability of this relationship, with ρ = 0.954 and OLS R² = 0.965. Agoè-Nyivé 2, located in the rapidly urbanising Greater Lomé metropolitan area in Togo, records particularly low readiness and PLG scores, highlighting the gap between cadastral needs and local governance capacity. The findings suggest that multipurpose cadastre implementation should be approached as a policy-readiness process requiring transparency, accountability, institutional coordination, technical capacity, and reliable land information systems.