Land Council

A Land Council's authority is codified in smart contracts on a blockchain. This enables transparent, verifiable, and tamper-proof decision-making. Key governance actions—like voting on proposals, allocating funds, or updating land rules—are executed automatically when consensus is reached, removing the need for a central administrator.

The council controls the economic rights associated with its land parcel. This typically includes:

• Primary sales of subdivided plots or assets.
• Secondary sales royalties from NFT resales.
• Rental fees from tenants or experiences. Collected funds are held in a multi-signature treasury wallet or DAO treasury, and are disbursed based on member votes for development, marketing, or dividends.

The council establishes and enforces the content and building policies for its territory. This can involve:

• Setting theme or aesthetic guidelines (e.g., cyberpunk district, medieval village).
• Approving or rejecting user-generated content and experiences.
• Defining technical specifications for interoperability and performance. This creates curated, cohesive environments within the broader, open metaverse.

Council membership and voting power are typically gated by ownership of a governance token, often an NFT representing a share of the land. This creates a meritocracy of capital and engagement. Voting mechanisms can include:

• Simple majority votes on proposals.
• Quadratic voting to reduce whale dominance.
• Delegated voting for representative democracy.

A forward-looking council advocates for and implements interoperability standards (like ERC-721 for NFTs, ERC-20 for tokens, or specific metaverse protocols). This ensures assets created on their land—avatars, items, buildings—can be portable to other compliant districts or platforms, increasing their utility and long-term value.

The council establishes the initial distribution mechanism for land, such as auctions or sales, and defines zoning rules. This includes designating areas for commercial, residential, or communal use, setting density limits, and managing the land registry to track ownership and parcel attributes.

Governs what can be built on land parcels by setting content policies and building codes. This involves:

• Approving or curating asset templates and prefabs.
• Enforcing size, height, and aesthetic guidelines.
• Managing a whitelist for approved smart contracts or NFTs that can be deployed.
• Defining rules for adult content, advertising, or other sensitive material.

Controls the virtual economy's core parameters. Responsibilities include:

• Setting and adjusting transaction fees for land sales or rentals.
• Managing staking rewards for landholders.
• Controlling the minting and burning of in-world utility tokens.
• Establishing royalty structures for content creators and determining revenue sharing from parcel activities.

Manages the project's community treasury, which is often funded by a portion of land sales and platform fees. The council votes on grant proposals to fund ecosystem development, such as:

• Developer incentives for building tools or experiences.
• Marketing initiatives to drive user adoption.
• Public goods funding for infrastructure or security audits.

Acts as a judicial body to resolve conflicts between landowners, tenants, or users. This includes:

• Adjudicating claims of IP infringement or content violations.
• Enforcing zoning and building code compliance, potentially through fines or revocation of rights.
• Managing a slashing mechanism for malicious actors.
• Overseeing upgrades to the land management smart contracts.

Sets the long-term vision for the virtual world through on-chain governance. Token holders vote on governance proposals to:

• Approve major technical upgrades to the core protocol.
• Decide on large-scale land expansions or new district launches.
• Form strategic partnerships with other projects or brands.
• Amend the council's own governance framework or charter.

The voting power within a Land Council is typically derived from holding a governance token (e.g., MANA for Decentraland, SAND for The Sandbox). Token holders can propose and vote on key decisions, such as:

• New land parcel auctions
• Content and conduct policies
• Treasury fund allocations
• Partnerships with other projects

The core asset managed by a Land Council. A virtual land parcel is a non-fungible token (NFT) representing a unique, ownable coordinate within a metaverse's digital space. The Council governs the initial sale, secondary market rules, and permissible uses (e.g., building, hosting events, advertising) for these parcels.

Land Councils often control a treasury funded by proceeds from initial land sales, transaction fees, or platform revenue. The Council votes on treasury allocations for:

• Platform development and maintenance grants
• Community initiatives and events
• Strategic acquisitions or partnerships
• Liquidity provisioning for native tokens

The operational engine of a Land Council. This defines the formal process for change, including:

• Proposal Submission: Requirements (e.g., token threshold, deposit).
• Voting Period: A fixed timeframe for token holders to cast votes.
• Quorum & Majority: The minimum participation and approval needed for execution.
• Timelock: A security delay between vote passage and smart contract execution.