Amsterdam mayor not worried Erotic Center will influence local youth

Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam is not worried that the Erotic Center set to open on the Europaboulevard in the Zuid district will affect schoolchildren in the area. In a letter responding to city council questions about the center, Halsema called it “unrealistic” that young people will become involved in drugs or prostitution or exhibit inappropriate sexual behavior due to the center.

“The dangers for vulnerable young people come from a different angle: the internet/their mobile phones, people from their own neighborhood/network who encourage behavior,” Halsema wrote. Local residents and city councilors raised concerns about the erotic center’s impact on young people, given that its chosen location in Amsterdam-Zuid is near the ROC vocational school and Luzac Lyceum.

The mayor brushed off concerns about the high volume of students that cycle through the area around the proposed Erotic Center to get to and from classrooms and after-school activities. She and the aldermen “see no reason why young people should avoid the routes. Amsterdam residents, young and old, cycle throughout the city to work, school, sports, family and friends, and go out in Amsterdam, and therefore come into contact with all kinds of people and activities, and in many different ways.”

Halsema also dismissed concerns from sex workers who feel they are being displaced, saying that others who were less vocal are supportive of the plan. “There are several groups for which the Erotic Center is interesting, for example, sex workers who now have little or no place in the licensed circuit (in particular male and transperson sex workers),” she said. The mayor said it was ultimately up to the sex workers whether they want to work in the Erotic Center, but she did not acknowledge that their workplace options would become more limited if the city shut more windows in the Red Light District.

The city is considering first encouraging window operators to voluntarily close in the city center, but if that fails, they are prepared to act more forcefully. This could start with property buyouts but could then lead to using policy changes to force people out of business, such as changing legal operating hours or banning sex work businesses in parts of the Red Light District. Financial details about funding buyouts and redeveloping former sex work locations will be released sometime this summer.

The municipality expects around 30,000 people per week will visit the Erotic Center once it opens - around 16,000 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and the remaining 14,000 scattered throughout the week. She added that those numbers may change as visitor figures largely depend on the final design.

Based on the current estimate, the city expects between 7,500 and 11,250 “traffic movements” - arriving and departing cars - around the Erotic Center per week. According to Halsema, an expert team within the municipality has looked at the traffic situation and concluded that the extra traffic would make a “limited contribution” to existing bottlenecks. Peak periods are expected to be 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturdays, outside the regular rush hours.

The city plans to press forward with eliminating dozens of parking spots in the area regardless of the final decision to build the Erotic Center. Halsema acknowledged that a lack of public transport options, particularly during late night and overnight hours, is a “bottleneck” that the city still has to address.

The mayor also dismissed concerns that the Erotic Center will result in party tourists causing problems in the area. “The idea is not that the problems in the Red Light District will be solved by moving all party tourists from the Red Light District to the Erotic Center. It will not be a second Red Light District,” she said. The center’s design means that none of its functions will be located on the public road, so there won’t be any “looky-loos” like in the Red Light District. There will also be no large-scale catering establishments aimed at tourists or coffeeshops around the center.

During the city council debate on the Erotic Center in mid-February, Halsema said that the Erotic Center could open in late 2031 at the earliest. In her response to answers that arose during that debate, she said that 13 different groups expressed interest in financing and developing the Erotic Center, but the city will keep those organizations anonymous until 2048.

“These were project developers, organizations for sex workers, a window operator, project/area developers, urban planners/architects, developers of cultural/social care real estate, several entrepreneurs from the queer/cultural community, and an investor.” The operator chosen will be responsible for development and construction costs and can choose to apply to include an underground parking garage. The city takes on the costs of preparing the land and infrastructure.