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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Amsterdam: an end to the red light district?

It may not spell the immediate demise of the louche British stag weekend in Amsterdam, but the Dutch capital has decided to crack down on the brothels and cannabis shops of its infamous red light district.A ten-year scheme, known as Project 1012 for the city postcode containing the red light district, kicked off in 2008 with the aim of making substantial cuts to the number of window brothels and drugs shops. But it's only now that the city is beginning to see some tangible results.200 of a total of 480 window brothels are slated to go. The city has managed to close down half of these; a zoning and compulsory purchase plan will be drawn up to tackle the next 100. Of the 76 cannabis shops in the area (usually known as "coffeeshops"), 26 will close their doors.There is a feeling in Amsterdam that the City Council is finally determined to get to grips with a burgeoning sex, drugs and money laundering industry in the red light district increasingly controlled by eastern European mafias, particularly from Bulgaria and the Ukraine.With the encouragement of the authorities, in recent months reputable entrepreneurs have started to invest in the area. Warmoesstraat, traditionally a sleazy district, now boasts a deli, florist and baker.Meanwhile, ordinary Amsterdammers have been shocked by an upsurge in cases of human trafficking of girls for the sex industry. There is a strong sense in the city the exploitative reality of the red light district has little to do with traditional Dutch tolerance."There had been warning signs starting in the 1990s that organised crime was basically using the area as its living room," says Lodewijk Asscher, deputy mayor of Amsterdam and the head of Project 1012."Amsterdam has always been a free and tolerant city, but we want to place more emphasis on museums and culture. We want to attract more families and encourage visitors to spend an extra night here."The vast majority of tourists spend no more than two nights in the city. Many stag parties – known locally as "vertical" tourists – contribute little to the city's formal economy.In the very heart of medieval Amsterdam, the red light district also feels like a missed opportunity. Its canals, particularly the parallel Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Achterburgwal, are flanked by some beautiful seventeenth-century townhouses. And in spite of the sex and drugs industry, they have not suffered from rampant commercialism to the same degree as nearby Damrak which – with its amusement arcades, fast food joints and exchange booths – presents a poor first impression to a visitor stepping off a train at Centraal Station.A good example of change in the red light district is the square around the thirteenth-century Oude Kerk, the city's oldest church, which was the venue for The International Organ Festival that finished in September.The Oude Kerk is ringed by brothel windows and a cannabis shop and, since April, a new and surprising arrival: the 106-cover Anna restaurant (www.restaurantanna.nl/en), which serves dishes such as truffle risotto and sautéed monkfish in a sleek, minimalist setting.Its owner, local entrepreneur and former DJ Michiel Kleiss says that he likes the "edge" of the red light district but feels the area "could do with a better mix"."Gentrifying the red light district is not the intention," says Kleiss. "But things have got out of hand. The British should be welcome here in the neighbourhood to have a drink, but stag parties are not only tacky and sometimes overwhelming, they are also a waste of a great medieval city.

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