Green: How east London keeps west London cool

What Shoreditch hipsters will tell you is confirmed by the environmentalists. It's east London that makes west London cool.

And that perennial role - as temperature regulator rather than fashion barometer - will become increasingly important as the capital comes to terms with the impact of climate change.

London should plan for more heatwaves

London can expect more extreme weather events over the next few years with the number of "uncomfortable" days of heatwave likely to double.

The rise of intensely sunny days should prompt architects and planners to start including "cool culture" design features to make life more bearable for overheated residents and workers, say experts.

Bringing children back to the wild

Mason is 10. He looks out on Canary Wharf from his high-rise. He wants to take film-maker David Bond on a tour of his manor, where he takes his dog for a walk to the patch of green that is his meagre playground.

"People moan at us for playing ball games," he says as he heads past the forbidding signs and down the "curly wurly" stairs of his concrete jungle.