London answers Beijing with super-park

The UK plans to counter Chinas reliance on architectural excellence with its own talent of horticultural expertise in planning for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Londons answer to Beijings Birds Nest will be huge park that will link the Games major venues – the Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre, the Velopark and the multi-sports arena.

The park will feature a "mini-Kew Gardens" called the London 2012 Gardens which will stretch for half a mile between the main stadium and the Aquatics Centre.

The gardens will celebrate centuries of British passion for gardens and plants, according to the Games organisers.

They will contain over 250 species of plants from four climatic zones and will no doubt give keen gardeners ideas to take back to their greenhouses.

Another inclusion will be an ecological park where over 700 artificial habitats will be installed to help wildlife flourish in the areas.

As part of the regeneration project, over three kilometres of waterways will be restored, while large grassy areas will be set up to allow spectators to watch events unfold on huge screens.

The total size of the park will be 100 hectares – the equivalent of 65 football pitches.