Plans for a "forest" in central London have been unveiled.

The Bankside Urban Forest will run from Tate Modern to Elephant and Castle and from Blackfriars Road to Borough High Street. It will contain hundreds of new trees and green spaces.

Witherford Watson Mann, the architecture firm behind the plan, said it would bring environmental benefits to the capital and create new social areas.

"The forest idea introduces elements associated with 'greening' the city, largely determined by ecological imperatives - to counter CO2 emissions and avoid flooding," said a spokesman for the architects. "There are equally important social and economic imperatives." The architects are working with organisations including Tate Modern, Southwark council, Transport for London and commercial landowners Land Securities and GC Bankside.

"We are at very early stages, but a lot of work is under way," said Bankside-Urban Forest manager Valerie Beirne. Areas would be set aside to be planted with trees, including one to the south of Tate Modern, which will double as a playground.

A green space is proposed opposite the Palestra building, and viaducts along Union Street could create 25,000 square metres of new space for small shops or a market, along the lines of Camden Stables.

The intersection at Union Street and Southwark Bridge Road would be a new public area called Flatiron Square, with a paved area, new trees and café in the middle.

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