Smart Event Management through GIS for the 2017 UCI Road World Championships

In September 2017, Bergen, Norway, hosted the UCI Road World Championships, attracting over 500,000 spectators and 300 million television viewers. The nine-day event, spanning 12 cycling races, was the largest sporting event in Norwegian history. Bergen’s compact city center was shut down, creating logistical challenges for public safety, traffic management, and citizen mobility.

The City of Bergen created a Joint Cooperation Center (JCC) to bring together representatives from 31 agencies, including emergency services, civil defense, traffic control, waste management etc. The centerpiece of the JCC was a dynamic GIS-based digital map with over 100 layers of real-time data. This map displayed race routes, emergency plans, and agency-specific assets, enabling rapid response to incidents, optimized traffic management, and efficient service delivery.

Public-facing maps complemented the system, guiding citizens to open businesses, alternative routes, and race updates. The event ran smoothly, achieving record-setting incident resolution times, high public satisfaction, and minimal disruption to city life.