Purpose  – Land governance plays an important part in influencing the quality of valuations. The purpose of this paper is to review the different meanings of governance.    Design/methodology/approach  – The World Bank Indicators of Governance, Jones Lang LaSalle's Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) and other data sources have been consulted.    Findings  – The paper discusses what is meant by good governance and how this can be measured.    Originality/value  – The paper presents some evidence to suggest that market transparency requires freedom of information and association, and is associated with factors such as the quality of institutions, the absence of corruption, and the quality of corporate governance.