RMIT Centre for Urban Research RMIT Centre for Urban Research RMIT Centre for Urban Research
  • Story
  • Press Kit
  • Quotes
  • FAQ
  • Virtual Interview
  • Media Contact
  • Methods
  • 🌐 EN
    • English
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Deutsch
    • Nederlands
    • Español

Press & Media Kit

Everything you need to cover this story. Static maps | EU-wide embeddables | Country embeddables | Single-city embeddables | Key statistics

Changing the site language (top right) also changes the language of downloadable assets and interactive embeds.


Static maps

High-resolution canopy deficit maps (PNG). Building-level, standard + colourblind palettes. Download by country:

  • France: Paris | Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nice
  • UK: London | Birmingham, Bristol | Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle
  • Germany: Berlin | Munich, Cologne, Hamburg
  • Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla
  • Italy: Rome, Naples, Milan
  • Portugal + Greece: Lisbon, Porto, Athens, Thessaloniki

EU-wide embeddables

Self-contained interactive tools covering all 25 cities. Each is embeddable; copy the iframe code below any tool, or right-click to open in a new tab.

To embed: copy the code snippet below each tool and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS.

Tree canopy within 60m of every building

Each coloured unit is an individual building. 25 European cities.

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/hero-carousel.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

25-city canopy ranking

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/city-ranking.html" width="100%" height="850" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Canopy deficit explorer (adjustable threshold)

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/canopy-deficit-slider.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Heat x inequality scatter

Income vs temperature, coloured by canopy.

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/heat-inequality.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Four-panel inequality maps (exposure meets income)

11 cities with income/deprivation data.

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/inequality-four-panel.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Cool & hot spots explorer

Dense residential areas that stay measurably cooler, or dangerously hotter. Split view with satellite and street imagery.

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/spots-explorer.html" width="100%" height="650" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Land surface temperature maps

22 cities. Landsat 8/9 thermal imagery during documented heatwave events. Magma palette.

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/lst-carousel.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Country embeddables

Nation-specific maps filtered to each country’s cities. Embed these for country-focused coverage.

Germany (4 cities: Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg)

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-carousel-de.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-deficit-de.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

France (5 cities)

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-carousel-fr.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-deficit-fr.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

UK (6 cities: London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle)

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-carousel-uk.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-deficit-uk.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Italy (3 cities)

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-carousel-it.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-deficit-it.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Spain (3 cities)

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-carousel-es.html" width="100%" height="700" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/country-deficit-es.html" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Single-city embeddables

Scrollable map of every building’s canopy deficit. Pan, zoom, and adjust overlay opacity. Select a city from the dropdown.

Copy this code and paste it directly into your HTML editor or CMS to embed:

<iframe src="https://euheatwave2026.pages.dev/embeds/leaflet-city.html" width="100%" height="650" frameborder="0"></iframe>


Key statistics

All 25 cities mapped. Income/deprivation data is available for 11 cities (France, UK, Germany).

Canopy and heat by city

City Country Buildings Citywide canopy Mean buffer canopy % above 30% Mean Heatwave LST
Sevilla Spain 62,940 4.2% 7.1% 1.3% 51.1°C
Athens Greece 67,825 8.1% 11.3% 3.7% 43.6°C
Marseille France 256,397 7.4% 17.8% 15.8% 43.8°C
Thessaloniki Greece 26,858 7.9% 19.6% 16.4% 43.7°C
Rome Italy 239,207 8.6% 11.8% 7.8% 49.1°C
Porto Portugal 45,274 10.0% 13.5% 6.3% 31.9°C
Lisbon Portugal 58,785 10.5% 10.9% 4.3% 36.9°C
Bristol UK 188,988 10.1% 16.1% 10.5% 36.7°C
Naples Italy 59,034 10.2% 18.0% 14.9% 47.7°C
Lyon France 46,246 10.3% 22.6% 24.9% 40.8°C
Toulouse France 137,966 10.7% 16.9% 9.4% 44.1°C
Birmingham UK 282,088 15.2% 13.5% 7.9% 34.8°C
Barcelona Spain 74,957 12.9% 24.3% 30.7% 42.0°C
Madrid Spain 159,773 12.9% 17.1% 14.3% 46.4°C
Leeds UK 328,493 13.0% 12.9% 8.2% 21.7°C†
Milan Italy 68,631 13.0% 26.3% 35.7% 45.9°C
Newcastle UK 73,969 13.1% 12.2% 5.5% 29.3°C
London UK 1,545,577 14.0% 14.0% 7.2% 44.9°C
Liverpool UK 136,605 15.2% 11.3% 6.5% 32.9°C
Paris France 118,646 16.7% 19.5% 18.0% 29.7°C
Cologne Germany 322,172 18.7% 29.2% 45.7% 34.7°C
Nice France 53,858 20.1% 33.5% 55.7% 42.4°C
Munich Germany 200,191 27.2% 24.1% 27.2% 37.9°C
Hamburg Germany 384,724 27.7% 28.5% 44.4% 32.3°C
Berlin Germany 575,524 43.6% 21.0% 50.9% 43.8°C

Citywide canopy = total canopy area ÷ city boundary area. Mean buffer canopy = average canopy % within 60m of each building. % above 30% = proportion of buildings meeting the 30% canopy cooling threshold.

UK cities use May 2026 data; most continental cities use summer 2024 heatwave data. Berlin uses a July 2025 composite; Sevilla uses a July 2023 heatwave composite; Hamburg uses a 2023–2024 summer median composite. See Methods for scene details.

† Leeds LST from a partially cloudy scene (14.4% cloud, 2024-07-30), so mean temperature is not representative of peak heat.

Total: ~5.1 million buildings across 25 cities. On average, 83.5% of buildings fall below the 30% canopy threshold.

Income-heat inequality (cities with equity data)

City Country Equity data source Canopy–heat ρ Income–heat ρ Key finding
Nice France Filosofi 200m (2019) −0.81 −0.54 Strongest canopy–heat signal. Wealthy hillsides have canopy; coastal flats exposed
Bristol UK IMD 2025 (LSOA) −0.64 +0.10 Strong canopy–heat link; deprivation–heat link weak
Toulouse France Filosofi 200m (2019) −0.58 −0.32
Munich Germany Zensus 2022 (100m) −0.57 +0.07 Rent barely predicts heat; canopy strongly does
London UK IMD 2025 (LSOA) −0.55 +0.33 Most deprived LSOAs significantly hotter
Lyon France Filosofi 200m (2019) −0.51 −0.41
Marseille France Filosofi 200m (2019) −0.51 −0.55 Strongest income–heat link
Cologne Germany Zensus 2022 (100m) −0.51 +0.09
Berlin Germany Zensus 2022 (100m) −0.46 −0.09 Rent barely predicts heat; canopy does
Birmingham UK IMD 2025 (LSOA) −0.45 +0.23
Paris France Filosofi 200m (2019) −0.29 −0.16 Weakest signal: both rich and poor equally canopy-deprived

Canopy–heat ρ: Spearman correlation between canopy % and surface temperature. Negative = more canopy → cooler (expected). Income–heat ρ: correlation between income/deprivation proxy and surface temperature. Negative (France) = lower income → hotter; positive (UK) = higher deprivation rank → hotter. Same relationship, different measurement direction.

No equity data available for: Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla), Italy (Rome, Naples, Milan), Portugal (Lisbon, Porto), Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki), UK (Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle).

Cool spots: dense areas that stay cool

Temperature gaps between shaded and exposed areas at similar dwelling densities (~50 dw/ha):

City Temperature gap Mean canopy in cool spots
Berlin 7.5°C ≥20%
Paris 9.8°C ≥20%
Birmingham 6.6°C ≥20%
London 5.2°C ≥20%
Lyon 5.2°C ≥20%
Marseille 4.8°C ≥20%

Cool spot criteria: mean canopy ≥20% within 60m, surface temperature below city 25th percentile, dwelling density ≥8 dw/ha.

Data sources

  • Tree canopy: Google EIE (0.2m, 2020–2024) for 8 cities; Meta/WRI Global Canopy Height (1m, 2020) for all others. All vegetation counted (no height filter). Canopy assessed within 60m of each building. Hybrid fill applied where 0.2m coverage is incomplete.
  • Surface temperature: Landsat 8/9 Collection 2 Level 2 (30m). Summer 2024 for most continental cities; May 2026 for UK; composites for Berlin, Sevilla, Hamburg.
  • Buildings: IGN BD TOPO v3.x (France), Overture Maps (all other countries).
  • Income: INSEE Filosofi 200m grid (France, 2019).
  • Deprivation: IMD 2025 at LSOA level (UK). Zensus 2022 at 100m grid (Germany, rent as proxy).
  • Threshold: 30% canopy cover within 60m, the minimum linked to measurable cooling (Ziter et al. 2019).

Unpublished spatial analysis by Dr Thami Croeser, June 2026.

 

RMIT Centre for Urban Research
Unpublished analysis by Dr Thami Croeser, June 2026