London Festival of Architecture
LDA Design
June 2026 (pilot evaluation, ongoing assessment planned)
Strand & Wellbeing: Measuring Wellbeing on a Radical Street
Evaluating how the transformation of Strand, Aldwych from a traffic gyratory into a green, pedestrian focused space is improving visitors' wellbeing, sense of belonging and connection to nature.
Aewell
Purpose
Strand, Aldwych has been transformed from four lanes of traffic into a people friendly, green and social space centred around St Mary le Strand Church. As part of the London Festival of Architecture, Tranquil City worked with LDA Design to conduct a pilot evaluation of the redesign, using our Aewell Framework to understand how the transformation affects visitors' wellbeing, nature connection and sense of belonging. The insights are intended to kick start an ongoing assessment of the site's long term impact.
Approach
Applied the Aewell Framework across seven themes, combining objective landscape data with visitors' subjective experiences.
Delivered a self guided Nature Walk activity across six stopping points, inviting participants to rate their experience and record moments of beauty and reflection.
Measured participants' happiness, anxiety and nature connection before and after the walk to capture short term changes in mood.
Drew on existing footfall, air quality and noise data to contextualise the site's wider environmental and social impact.
Results
The evaluation found strong evidence that the transformed street is supporting wellbeing, nature connection and a sense of place, even during a short pilot activity.
An estimated 331,524 people live within a five to ten minute walk of the site, with 121 million people visiting the wider Northbank area each year. The People and Nature study found that 78% of people visit the green space nearest to them most often, suggesting this space provides a significant number of people with access to high quality green space.
35,958 daily visitors recorded across 2025 to 2026. 94% of visitors are estimated to be “work” or “commute” related.
82% of people find it “easy” or “very easy” to find a place to sit, with an average dwell time of 1 hour 32 minutes.
Nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen by 56% since 2019, and traffic noise is 15 dBA lower than at nearby Kingsway, revealing a calmer soundscape, where the sounds of people and wildlife are most noticeable.
Participants perceived the area to have “moderate-high” biodiversity, despite its urban location, and rated the area 4.37 out of 5 for cleanliness.
Participants rated the area 4 out of 5 for helping them connect with nature, describing it as an "oasis" and a "sanctuary".
Women rated the area higher than men on both safety, belonging and social connection, and people who visited regularly were more likely to feel a deeper sense of belonging in the space.
Experiencing the space produced a 19% boost in happiness and a 48% reduction in anxiety, alongside a 12% increase in nature connection
The results demonstrate significant potential for further investment in similar interventions across the Northbank area, with a seasonal repeat of the evaluation planned to track how the experience develops as planting matures.
All photos: Mickey LF Lee
Quotes
"Calm. More attuned. Clear headed."
Nature Walk participant, describing their mood after the walk, June 2026
"A little oasis, to sit amongst the plants."
Nature Walk participant, June 2026