{"schemaVersion":"1.0","type":"DataStory","id":"cooling-the-city","title":"Cooling the city","description":"Tree canopy and green cover do not fall evenly across the neighbourhoods most vulnerable to heat.","introduction":"Green cover, modelled heat vulnerability and annual air pollution are different surfaces. Reading them together reveals spatial questions; it does not prove that one caused another.","category":"Environment","canonical":"https://londongraph.com/story/cooling-the-city","markdown":"https://londongraph.com/story/cooling-the-city/index.html.md","updatedAt":"2026-08-01T18:08:11.855Z","caveat":"These modelled and remotely classified surfaces have different geographies and uncertainty. Spatial association is not causation.","evidence":[{"dataset":"green-cover-by-ward","graphSlug":"how-green-is-your-ward","label":"Tree canopy","text":"GLA 2024 tree-canopy cover across current wards.","shape":"area","metric":"tree_canopy_percent","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/how-green-is-your-ward","claim":{"dataset":"green-cover-by-ward","graphSlug":"how-green-is-your-ward","label":"Tree canopy","text":"GLA 2024 tree-canopy cover across current wards.","headlineLabel":"Hampstead Town","value":58.06106841065175,"unit":"%","period":"2024","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":16.034358611004578,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-01T18:05:59.867Z","resourceUrl":"https://data.london.gov.uk/download/e56n0/2a993c9b-20c5-43c6-871b-ce5e5aa5376a/2024_%20green_cover_borough_ward_stats.xlsx","methodologyUrl":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/green-cover-2024-e56n0","releaseLabel":"GLA Tree Canopy and Green Cover 2024","sourcePublishedAt":"2024-06-24T00:00:00.000Z","resourceChecksum":"061d6c2dc0ce261208d045f659c87718b19e594f669ea1b26469f4c75b551eac"}}},{"dataset":"london-climate-vulnerability","graphSlug":"londons-climate-vulnerability","label":"Heat vulnerability","text":"The GLA’s relative neighbourhood heat-risk measure.","shape":"area","metric":"heat_risk","unit":"risk score","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/londons-climate-vulnerability","claim":{"dataset":"london-climate-vulnerability","graphSlug":"londons-climate-vulnerability","label":"Heat vulnerability","text":"The GLA’s relative neighbourhood heat-risk measure.","headlineLabel":"Enfield 030D","value":52,"unit":"risk score","period":"2024","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":37,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-01T18:05:56.740Z","resourceUrl":"https://services.arcgis.com/drifeOPKLpgnJ8Qa/arcgis/rest/services/GLA_ClimateRiskMaps_gdb071724/FeatureServer","methodologyUrl":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/climate-risk-mapping-2oxg6","releaseLabel":"GLA Climate Risk Maps 2024","sourcePublishedAt":"2024-07-18T00:00:00.000Z","resourceChecksum":"3a389ebad312eb480221b331bab73a88206a23b1bfe9b7abb22267ae3253d9ad"}}},{"dataset":"modelled-air-pollution","graphSlug":"the-air-between-the-sensors","label":"Modelled NO₂","text":"LAEI annual mean nitrogen dioxide on the shared 500 m grid.","shape":"area","metric":"no2_annual_mean","unit":"µg/m³","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/the-air-between-the-sensors","claim":{"dataset":"modelled-air-pollution","graphSlug":"the-air-between-the-sensors","label":"Modelled NO₂","text":"LAEI annual mean nitrogen dioxide on the shared 500 m grid.","headlineLabel":"500 m cell 1017, 352","value":38.01538580800001,"unit":"µg/m³","period":"2022","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":19.858029808000005,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-01T18:08:11.855Z","resourceUrl":"https://data.london.gov.uk/download/2lg5g/7jy/LAEI2022-Concentrations-Data-CSV.zip","methodologyUrl":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory-laei-2022-2lg5g","releaseLabel":"LAEI 2022 concentration model — V1","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"8c337a8c63ccf81299fafda7e4b7b7226e508c7a91c8ed597247b9262f033f3f"}}}],"sources":[{"name":"Greater London Authority","url":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/green-cover-2024-e56n0","graphSlug":"how-green-is-your-ward"},{"name":"Greater London Authority","url":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/climate-risk-mapping-2oxg6","graphSlug":"londons-climate-vulnerability"},{"name":"Greater London Authority — LAEI 2022","url":"https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory-laei-2022-2lg5g/","graphSlug":"the-air-between-the-sensors"}]}