Key Statistics
All 25 cities mapped. Where data is unavailable, cells are marked “n/a”. Income/deprivation data is available for 17 cities (France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal).
Canopy and heat by city
| City | Country | Buildings | Avg canopy in 60m of buildings | % above 30% | Mean Heatwave LST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sevilla | Spain | 62,940 | 9.1% | 1.8% | 49.4°C |
| Athens | Greece | 67,825 | 10.4% | 2.5% | 43.7°C |
| Liverpool | UK | 136,605 | 11.3% | 6.5% | 32.9°C |
| Paris | France | 118,646 | 12.1% | 4.4% | 47.9°C |
| Lisbon | Portugal | 58,785 | 12.2% | 5.3% | 42.8°C |
| Newcastle | UK | 73,969 | 12.2% | 5.5% | 29.3°C |
| Leeds | UK | 328,493 | 12.9% | 8.2% | 21.7°C† |
| Birmingham | UK | 282,088 | 13.5% | 7.9% | 34.8°C |
| Porto | Portugal | 45,274 | 13.5% | 6.3% | 44.9°C |
| London | UK | 1,545,577 | 14.0% | 7.2% | 44.9°C |
| Madrid | Spain | 159,773 | 14.1% | 8.8% | 45.1°C |
| Milan | Italy | 68,631 | 14.2% | 7.5% | 46.6°C |
| Bristol | UK | 188,988 | 16.1% | 10.5% | 36.7°C |
| Marseille | France | 256,397 | 16.6% | 12.6% | 48.0°C |
| Rome | Italy | 239,207 | 17.9% | 14.8% | 49.7°C |
| Naples | Italy | 59,034 | 18.0% | 14.9% | 46.0°C |
| Lyon | France | 46,246 | 18.4% | 15.7% | 49.0°C |
| Thessaloniki | Greece | 26,858 | 19.6% | 16.4% | 42.3°C |
| Berlin | Germany | 575,524 | 21.0% | 20.0% | 43.8°C |
| Toulouse | France | 137,966 | 21.5% | 16.6% | 45.5°C |
| Munich | Germany | 200,191 | 24.1% | 27.2% | 42.5°C |
| Barcelona | Spain | 74,957 | 24.3% | 30.7% | 43.7°C |
| Nice | France | 53,858 | 27.3% | 40.8% | 43.5°C |
| Hamburg | Germany | 384,724 | 28.5% | 44.4% | 36.5°C |
| Cologne | Germany | 322,172 | 29.2% | 45.7% | 42.4°C |
Avg canopy in 60m of buildings = average canopy % within 60m of each building — a measure of how much useful, local shade each building actually has. % above 30% = proportion of buildings meeting the 30% canopy cooling threshold.
LST dates: nearly all cities use June–July 2026 heatwave scenes (France 21–26 Jun; Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal late Jun–early Jul); UK cities use late-May 2026. Exceptions: Berlin (Jul 2025 composite — Jun 2026 too cloudy), and Leeds/Liverpool/Newcastle (2023–24, no clear 2026 scene). See Methods for per-city 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: ~5.5 million buildings across 25 cities. On average, 84% of buildings fall below the 30% canopy threshold.
Income-heat inequality (cities with equity data)
| City | Country | Equity data source | Canopy–heat ρ | Equity–heat ρ | Key finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nice | France | Filosofi 200m (2019) | −0.80 | −0.53 | Strongest canopy–heat signal. Wealthy hillsides have canopy; coastal flats exposed |
| Milan | Italy | Istat 2021 census (sezione) | −0.77 | −0.22 | Inverse: dense wealthy centre is the hot core; deprived outskirts greener |
| Madrid | Spain | INE ADRH 2023 (sección) | −0.70 | −0.36 | Strong income–heat; affluent north protected, poor south exposed |
| Bristol | UK | IMD 2025 (LSOA) | −0.64 | +0.10 | Strong canopy–heat link; deprivation–heat link weak |
| Toulouse | France | Filosofi 200m (2019) | −0.57 | −0.40 | |
| Munich | Germany | Zensus 2022 (100m) | −0.58 | +0.02 | 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) | −0.56 | −0.32 | |
| Marseille | France | Filosofi 200m (2019) | −0.46 | −0.45 | Strongest income–heat link |
| Cologne | Germany | Zensus 2022 (100m) | −0.42 | +0.01 | |
| Berlin | Germany | Zensus 2022 (100m) | −0.47 | −0.09 | Rent barely predicts heat; canopy does |
| Birmingham | UK | IMD 2025 (LSOA) | −0.45 | +0.23 | |
| Sevilla | Spain | INE ADRH 2023 (sección) | −0.20 | −0.57 | Steepest income–heat gradient in Spain; city regularly exceeds 44°C |
| Lisbon | Portugal | Census BGRI 2021 (subsecção) | +0.07 | −0.03 | Signals wash out at the July 2026 peak — near-uniform exposure across the city |
| Paris | France | Filosofi 200m (2019) | −0.51 | −0.32 | Weakest signal: both rich and poor equally canopy-deprived |
| Rome | Italy | Istat 2021 census (sezione) | −0.40 | +0.18 | More-deprived sezioni run hotter |
| Barcelona | Spain | INE ADRH 2023 (sección) | −0.33 | −0.29 | Both canopy and income track heat in this compact coastal city |
Canopy–heat ρ: Spearman correlation between canopy % and surface temperature. Negative = more canopy → cooler (expected). Equity–heat ρ: correlation between the equity metric and surface temperature. For income metrics (France, Spain) negative = lower income → hotter; for deprivation metrics (UK, Italy, Portugal, German rent) positive = more deprived → hotter. Same relationship, different measurement direction.
Equity data sources: France INSEE Filosofi income (200m); UK IMD 2025 (LSOA); Germany Zensus 2022 rent (100m); Spain INE ADRH 2023 income (sección censal); Italy Istat 2021 census composite of education + employment (sezione); Portugal 2021 census BGRI housing-condition composite (subsecção).
No equity data available for: Italy (Naples), Portugal (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 |
|---|---|---|
| Paris | 10.5°C | ≥20% |
| Berlin | 7.5°C | ≥20% |
| Marseille | 6.6°C | ≥20% |
| Birmingham | 6.6°C | ≥20% |
| Lyon | 6.0°C | ≥20% |
| London | 5.2°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, 2020–2025) for 19 cities; Meta/WRI Global Canopy Height (1m, 2020) for 6 remaining cities (Barcelona, Bristol, Cologne, Naples, Porto, Thessaloniki). 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 (30 m). June–July 2026 heatwave for most cities; late-May 2026 for UK; Berlin uses a July 2025 composite; Leeds/Liverpool/Newcastle retain 2023–24 scenes (no clear 2026 pass). Per-pixel QA cloud masking; max-composite for multi-path/cloudy cities.
- 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).