Clean, interactive design: Mapping York’s air pollution at street level

York Air Map

Sector
Education & Third Sector

Services
Brand Identity, Website Design & Development

Challenge

To develop an appealing, accessible, interactive web interface to drive engagement with the street level pollution data collected via the York Air Map project.

Context

York Air Map makes air quality information accessible and empowering for cyclists and the wider community. The innovative map-based project evolved from a collaboration between conceptual artist Clare Nattress and atmospheric scientist Dr Daniel Bryant in 2022 after Clare spent three months collecting air pollution data on her bicycle, with Dan analysing the results.

Solution

Volunteer cyclists were tasked with cycling the streets of York using their Plume sensors to map areas of high pollution within York. We then mapped this data to an interactive interface merging and averaging across hexagonal cells.

The tool also allows the data to be filtered by type of pollutants to allow for a more detailed picture across the city.

“Working with United by Design has been fundamental for our ongoing work and research. Their unparalleled creativity, detailed insights, and care and attention has allowed our ideas to translate into impactful design.”

Clare Nattress, Founder

Result

We delivered an accessible platform that highlights ambient air pollution from ground level and reveals recurring pollution hotspots. The work we produced not only functions incredible well visually, but has directly contributed to tangible, real-world impact of the project – allowing for air pollution to become more easily and widely understood.

Thank you

Thanks to Clare, Dan and all the cyclists involved in the project.