Mayor tackles old red-light problem
Amsterdam could do better without district, she says
Amsterdam’s first female mayor is rethinking its centuries-old red-light district.
The Wallen district sits in the oldest part of the city and at its creation in the 14th century was where free women, mostly Dutch, served sailors and traders without shame.
Now, with more than 370 windows displaying scantily clad women jeered by drunk tourists and photo-taking oglers who dehumanize them, the area, one of the biggest tourist draws in the city, is no longer fitting for a modern city, says Femke Halsema.
“Too often now we see vulnerable foreign women behind windows being booed by hordes of drunken tourists,” said the 52-year-old mayor, who’s five months into her job.
“Our inner city is one of the oldest in Europe, with an enormous historical significance, which is obviously deteriorating. We would like tourists to see the cultural value.”
While the city intends to keep prostitution aboveboard and safe, the review of the district is part of a broader effort to spread visitors across the city, and owners of the window brothels are increasingly willing to consider it.
With the city of about 850,000 drawing 18 million tourists in 2016 — the latest available figure — Halsema says redefining the red-light district will both de-congest the canal city and revive the Dutch capital’s historic zone.
Managing tourist flows is just one of the issues on Halsema’s plate as she contends with everything from an influx of people from Brexit-driven changes in London to keeping Amsterdam housing affordable amid sizzling property prices.
Locals have expressed concerns about rising visitor numbers, pointing to the need to keep the city livable.
Amsterdammers got the mayor’s support to scrap a planned jetty that would have allowed commercial boats to moor in a canal a few yards from the famous Anne Frank house.
“What’s of great importance to the city is that Amsterdam is a place where people live,” the mayor said. “This is not a frozen tourist spot where life becomes difficult. We need to think about what kind of tourists we want to attract, as we shouldn’t have any illusion that the number of tourists in the city will go down. It will keep on rising.”
The other influx Halsema is preparing for is Brexit-escapees. A first group of about 60 European Medicines Agency employees is already working in Amsterdam after the regulator decided to move from London. Hundreds more are expected.
Another issue is trying to ensure that the city lives up to its reputation for tolerance.
“At times Amsterdam has been called too open,” Halsema said. “I think we should currently worry more about whether we are open enough.”