Parcellatie

Parcellatie is the division of a larger tract of land into smaller plots, primarily for ownership, development, or land-use planning. In Dutch-language cadastral practice, parcellatie creates a new cadastral map with clearly bounded and numbered parcels. The process is typically initiated by a local authority or private developer and involves land surveying, negotiations among owners, and the provision or adjustment of infrastructure such as roads, drainage, and public spaces. The definitive boundaries and parcel numbers are registered in the national cadastre (Kadaster), making property rights and responsibilities transparent and transaction-friendly. Parcellatie is commonly used in urban development, agricultural land consolidation, and property delineation during rezoning or sale.

In science, parcellatie (parcellation) refers to the division of a complex structure into smaller units. In neuroscience, cortical parcellation subdivides the cerebral cortex into regions based on anatomy, connectivity, or function, yielding brain atlases used in imaging analysis. In geography and remote sensing, land-use or administrative regions can be created by parceling land into manageable units for planning or taxation. Parcellation schemes vary by method and aim, from cytoarchitectonic maps to data-driven functional clusters. Challenges include cross-subject variability, alignment between schemes, and balancing granularity with interpretability.

Etymology: from Latin parcellatio, division into parcels. The term is used in Dutch legal-administrative contexts and in scientific literature as parcellation.