# Cooling the city

> Tree canopy and green cover do not fall evenly across the neighbourhoods most vulnerable to heat.

- Category: Environment
- Canonical: [https://londongraph.com/story/cooling-the-city](https://londongraph.com/story/cooling-the-city)
- Machine-readable record: [https://londongraph.com/data/story/cooling-the-city](https://londongraph.com/data/story/cooling-the-city)
- Latest contributing release: 2026-08-01T18:08:11.855Z

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.

## Evidence

### Tree canopy

GLA 2024 tree-canopy cover across current wards.

- Current computed headline: Hampstead Town — 58.06% (2024)
- London median: 16.03%
- Release: GLA Tree Canopy and Green Cover 2024
- Dataset: `green-cover-by-ward`
- Explore: [how-green-is-your-ward](https://londongraph.com/g/how-green-is-your-ward)

### Heat vulnerability

The GLA’s relative neighbourhood heat-risk measure.

- Current computed headline: Enfield 030D — 52 risk score (2024)
- London median: 37 risk score
- Release: GLA Climate Risk Maps 2024
- Dataset: `london-climate-vulnerability`
- Explore: [londons-climate-vulnerability](https://londongraph.com/g/londons-climate-vulnerability)

### Modelled NO₂

LAEI annual mean nitrogen dioxide on the shared 500 m grid.

- Current computed headline: 500 m cell 1017, 352 — 38.02 µg/m³ (2022)
- London median: 19.86 µg/m³
- Release: LAEI 2022 concentration model — V1
- Dataset: `modelled-air-pollution`
- Explore: [the-air-between-the-sensors](https://londongraph.com/g/the-air-between-the-sensors)

## Interpretation

These modelled and remotely classified surfaces have different geographies and uncertainty. Spatial association is not causation.

Every numerical claim is computed from the current versioned datasets at render time. Missing data is reported as missing rather than replaced.

## Sources

- [Greater London Authority](https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/green-cover-2024-e56n0)
- [Greater London Authority](https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/climate-risk-mapping-2oxg6)
- [Greater London Authority — LAEI 2022](https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory-laei-2022-2lg5g/)