Bankside Urban Forest is a long term strategy and vision for enhancing the public realm in the Bankside area between the River Thames, Elephant and Castle, Blackfriars Road and Borough High Street. The strategy will take in streets, pavements, parks and squares.

Working in partnership with residents, local government and businesses, the main objective is to achieve a flexible but co-coordinated approach to the design, delivery and management of public spaces.

The Bankside Urban Forest urban design framework, developed by Witherford Watson Mann architects, aims to improve the relationship between the less developed urban interior and its active, increasingly corporate, edges. The framework makes links between existing projects and proposes public realm improvements to support interaction between residents, workers, visitors, local institutions and businesses.

The first phase of projects including Great Guildford Street and Flatiron Square will be delivered by 2010.

Design for London is represented on the management and steering group and provides design advice and funding support for key projects.

Partners: Better Bankside, Tate Modern, London Borough of Southwark, the Architecture Foundation, Cross River Partnership, Land Securities and Native Land