Blockchain-Based Transferable Digital Rights of Land

TL;DR

This paper introduces a blockchain-based system for tokenizing transferable development rights of land, enhancing land management and transfer processes with a focus on practical implementation challenges.

Contribution

It presents the first approach to tokenize development rights specifically, addressing practical issues like record-keeping, ground verification, and stakeholder identification.

Findings

Successful implementation with a development authority

Addresses practical challenges in land rights tokenization

Incorporates publicly available rates for accurate valuation

Abstract

Land, being a scarce and valuable resource, is in high demand, especially in densely populated areas of older cities. Development authorities require land for infrastructure projects and other amenities, while landowners hold onto their land for both its usage and its financial value. Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) serve as a mechanism to separate the development rights associated with the land from the physical land itself. Development authorities acquire the land by offering compensation in the form of TDRs, which hold monetary value. In this paper, we present the tokenization of development rights, focusing on the implementation in collaboration with a development authority. While there have been previous implementations of land tokenization, we believe our approach is the first to tokenize development rights specifically. Our implementation addresses practical challenges related to record-keeping, ground verification of land, and the unique identification of stakeholders. We ensure the accurate evaluation of development rights by incorporating publicly available circle rates, which consider the ground development of the land and its surrounding areas.