|
Weather 
Friday: Cold and sunny everywhere. Heavy frost at night. Similar Saturday but thaw possible Sunday
     |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Total overhaul for Amsterdam city centreMonday 17 December 2007 The oldest part of Amsterdam city centre is to get a major facelift costing hundreds of millions of euros, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. The project involves a sharp reduction in the amount of prostitution, an overhaul of hotels and bars and efforts to bring in high-value retail. The city council, police, tax office, housing corporations, investment funds and private investors such as the Hotel Krasnapolsky are all involved in the project. 'It is time to step in,' council finance chief Lodewijk Asscher told the Volkskrant. 'The days when the prettiest part of the old city was in the hands of petty crime are over.' In particular, prostitution will be removed from the area around the Oude Kerk church, which will be brought back to life as a cultural centre. The city also wants the legal age for prostitution to be raised from 18 to 21 and more efforts to ban pimping and forced prostitution. These measures require national legislation, but have the support of a majority of MPs. The Damrak, which leads into the city from central station, will also be completely restructured to get rid of the numerous souvenir and drugs coffee shops and connections to organised crime. 'We will use every measure at our disposal,' Asscher told the Volkskrant. The total revamp, nicknamed Project 1012 after the city centre postcode, is expected to take some 10 years. © DutchNews.nl
What idiot thought this daft scheme up? Amsterdam will just become bland like some other European cities. The Dutch policy on prostitution is the most tolerant and practical in Europe. Sounds like a smokescreen for developers to make a fast buck and ruin the unique character of the city for ever? I'd rather they knocked down the Hotel Krasnopolsky and kept the RlD! By Henry | December 24, 2007 5:48 PM
Comments have been closed for this article. |
| Newsletter | | | RSS | | | Advertising | | | Business services | | | Mobile | | | Friends | | | Contact | | | About us | | | Tell a Friend |
|
Who are these people who think they can make Amsterdam another Paris? Come on, get over it. You are going to destroy the charm of Amsterdam, unlike anyplace else in the world.
Your so-called christian morals are being put in policy. Your riding a high horse now with the enconomy booming, but just wait until it goes down...and it will. My suggestion is to get a new mayor who is in tune to his city. For starters on damrack...change that awful dirty icky sidewalk..... and there you go again using the "mob" to get your christian agenda done.
I hope the Dutch are smarter than that. Yes all we need in Amsterdam Center is another C&A.
By al | December 19, 2007 12:13 PM