Femke Halsema is crafting a plan to address crime and crowds in Amsterdam’s red light district.
It’s a Saturday night in January and De Wallen, better known as Amsterdam’s red light district, is bustling. Groups of people stroll past souvenir shops, cafés, red-lit windows and sex shops. There’s a strong smell of marijuana in the air. On a bridge over a canal, a large banner reads: “0.0% zone. No alcohol in public spaces. €95 fine.”
Behind a window in a narrow alleyway, a woman in lingerie beckons two young men passing by. Security personnel in orange coats limit how many people enter the alley and try to make sure no one photographs the women in the windows. The number of tourists who visit the Dutch capital has grown tremendously in the past few years.
Een redacteur van The Washington, een Amerikaanse krant, benaderde mij om een artikel over dit onderwerp te schrijven.
