National Land Agency BPN - Republic of Indonesia (1995):
International Workshop on the Implementation of Rural Land Consolidation

10. 4 Summary

The measures described and the examples shown from the new German Länder show the large sociopolitical importance of land consolidation in Germany.

Modern land consolidation in Germany predominantly employs concepts for a comprehensive, integral development of rural areas. Its aim is to ensure the competitiveness and adaptability of rural areas, and their functioning agricultural enterprises, in a Europe consisting of living regions.

Land is an asset that cannot be increased. The purpose of land consolidation is to protect this asset. In Germany, land consolidation is bound to uphold the constitutional right to private ownership of property.

For this reason, land consolidation must be in the interest of property owners. Land consolidation is not expropriation! On the contrary: its purpose is to:

adapt property to changed conditions, and,: thus, to preserve its content and value;

ensure a balance between the guaranteed right to property and the social responsibility that devolves from property ownership. That means, that in addition determination of land use must also take the common good into account (regional development, infrastructure, ecology).

The main task of land consolidation on the territory of the former GDR is to restore the system of private ownership in rural areas. Experience gained in repairing damage caused by over 40 years of socialist agrarian experiments has made the following fact clear: individually owned property is the prerequisite for personal freedom and economic prosperity! Land consolidation can play a decisive role in securing such ownership.