Erotic center planning delayed as Amsterdam addresses locals' concerns

The administrative process for Amsterdam’s erotic center will be delayed by about five weeks as local politicians address the many questions and concerns of local residents, mayor Femke Halsema told AT5. “In Zuid alone, I received 61 questions on paper,” she said.

According to Halsema, her attention barely left the erotic center these past weeks due to residents’ evenings, a committee debate on the matter, and a demonstration by sex workers. “After such a residents’ evening, you wake up the next morning with muscle pain from the effort it took,” Halsema said. Despite the effort, she’s happy with the evenings. “Not all input was equally polished, but that really isn’t necessary. People are worried.”

After years of work, the city of Amsterdam picked three possible locations for the erotic center - two near the RAI in Zuid and the other on the NDSM wharf in Noord. There’s been unrest in both neighborhoods since the city announced the locations.

According to Halsema, she, as mayor, is “the symbol of what they are against” for many locals. “Then they also have every right to find something about it in every possible way. All in all, I thought they were very good evenings. I also want to do justice to it, and that means that I have told the committee: please give me some extra time. In Zuid, I was given 61 questions on paper. Give me some time to answer them thoroughly before we move on to the next phase or final conclusions.”

Halsema asked for five weeks to answer the questions. She hopes the districts will also give her that time. “Give us the opportunity to explain the technical answers properly. We may be delayed by a month. That is not a problem for a process that takes years,” she told AT5. “I think it is important that when we finally make the decision, people who continue to disagree also feel that they have been taken seriously. In the end, you can disagree, but be respectful. And it is also clear that we as the local government have to find a solution to a very complicated social problem.”

The city government has to weigh the interests of individual districts against the general interest of the entire city. “There is also a risk that an erotic center will eventually end up on an industrial estate, where the sex workers won’t be safe, or in a part of the city where residents are unable to organize themselves because they are vulnerable,” Halsema explained. “You have to take the objections very seriously. If the arguments are convincing, you have to start over and look elsewhere. It is also possible that you still make the decision after weighing the objections.