In this planning memo, we review the latest academic literature around data, communication, and political advocacy from the Nordic Region. We also summarise how several Nordic cities and regions work with data and communication in their cycling strategies.
Nordic cities and regions gather cycling data through surveys, trackers and manual counts, and sources like traffic accident reports. The municipalities and regions work with this data to gain insights on number of cyclists, times of travel, perceptions of cycling, and qualities of cycling infrastructure, among other figures.
Ongoing challenges for Nordic cycling practitioners include sorting and making use of available data, ensuring that the right data is collected with the available budgets, and combatting the backlash that they often face in their work to make safer and more accessible environments for all residents.
This is the second memo in a series summarising research and policy concerning bicycle planning in the Nordic countries. The aim is to provide practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and other actors with insights into the academic discourse, to highlight how Nordic cities and regions are working with the topic, to note useful tools and initiatives, and to identify ongoing challenges.
In doing so, the memo seeks to support informed decision-making for transport planning in the Nordic Region. The content of this memo was developed based on desk research as well as inputs from an online workshop held in November 2025 among the Nordic Cycle Network—a network of practitioners from around 20 cities and regions across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
