Amsterdam’s red light district is one of the most famous in the world, but could it soon be moving home?
It’s hard to imagine the ‘Dam withouts those glowing neon windows, the canal-side swagger, the stag parties stumbling through De Wallen. But if Mayor Femke Halsema gets her way, this iconic slice of sin might be packing its bags for a new postcode: Europaboulevard, a less tourist-trampled spot in the south.
The plan’s been afoot since 2018, with a big reveal in December 2023 promising a shiny new “Erotic Centre.” Yet, as we sit here in February 2025, the whole thing feels like a non-starter. Will it happen, or won’t it?
The Big Move: What’s the Plan?
Alright, so let’s dive into this mess: why the move’s still up in the air, why the window girls are kicking up a storm, and how this compares to the zoning shenanigans in other European hotspots.
The stated intention is fairly simple: take 100 of De Wallen’s 249 legal prostitution windows and shift them to a purpose-built hub on Europaboulevard, which (from the planning notes) sounds like something akin to the sex clubs we’ve seen in Germany’s FKK mega brothels.
The proposed hub is like a sex worker’s version of a multiplex, again, much like a FKK.
100 rooms, plus bars, sex shops, and even a theatre for those who fancy a bit of culture with their pay-to-play.
The city’s calling it the “Erotic Centre,” a seven-year project that could see doors opening around 2031.
Why mess with a famously lucrative tourist industry?
Well… the argument in favour is “to clean up the city centre, dial down the drug-dealing chaos, and give locals a break from the drunken Brits who treat Amsterdam like their personal playground“.
Mayor Halsema’s been banging this drum since she took office, pushing to rebrand Amsterdam as less “sin city” and more “nice city.”
She’s already cracked down on cannabis hotspots and early-closing brothels, so this relocation feels like the cherry on her puritan pie. But, as time goes by, it seems the relocation is facing a lot more resistance than she first imagined.
We checked the last council committee notes (15 February 2024), and sure… there is mention of a timeline…
But whatever ‘project decision’ was taken in Autumn 2024, it hasn’t been publicised yet.
We can only assume that no decision has been taken.
Will De Wallen live to fight another day?
Why the Uncertainty?
Nobody’s quite sure if this is a done deal or a pipe dream.
We’ve spoken to several Amsterdam-based sex workers and their consensus is that we’re still in the business as usual, nothing to see here stage… for the foreseeable future.
The timeline is certainly dragging.
Seven years from approval means we’re still years out, assuming it even gets the nod.
Last we heard, June 2024 rolled by with no fresh word, and January 2025 chatter focused more on tightening sex work regs than breaking ground. Is it stalled in council debates? Buried under red tape? Or just too damn controversial to push through?
The opposition’s loud, and it’s not just the usual NIMBY crowd.
Residents in Zuid, where the centre’s slated to land, are grumbling about noise and crowds. 65% of Amsterdammers surveyed in 2023 gave it a hard pass. Then there’s the cash factor: building a multi-storey sex palace isn’t cheap, and with tourism already a goldmine (five million visitors in 2022, according to Schengen News), some reckon the city’s biting the hand that feeds it.
Throw in protests from cultural purists who see De Wallen as Amsterdam’s soul, and you’ve got a recipe for indecision.
If we had to guess, this plan looks badly wounded on arrival.
The Girls Say No: Voices from the Windows
It’s hard to judge where to stand on this matter without speaking to the people it will affect most – the famous Windows Girls of Amsterdam.
From the feedback we received… they hate it.
Red Light United, a sex worker collective, found 90% of their surveyed sisters want to stay put.
Protests in October 2023 saw them marching through De Wallen with banners screaming, “If we’re not the problem, why punish us?”.
A fair shout, if you ask us. These women aren’t just fighting for a paycheck; it’s about safety, survival, and a system that’s worked for decades.
We nabbed some feedback from active working girls via our Amsterdam sex guide:
- “I’ve been here ten years. The centre keeps us visible, this would be a fucking disaster. Police are close, clients know where to find us. Out there? It’s a ghost town. I’ll lose half my regulars.” – A 30-something veteran of the windows.
- “They say it’s safer, but how? De Wallen’s got eyes everywhere.” – Another concerned SW.
- “This isn’t about us, it’s about their image. Tourists come for the windows, not some sterile sex mall. I don’t see why some political stunt should affect the situation so badly for all of us, because it will absolutely destroy us. It’s a dumb idea on every level.” – Yet another unimpressed voice.
Yikes.
The beef is real.
You can certainly understand the location concerns.
De Wallen’s is a hive of activity. Busy streets, constant foot traffic, and awash with tourists. Europaboulevard is more of a business district, miles from the big spenders, and much more in keeping with the industrial brothel belts of Germany and Austria.
Sure, the new spot promises health hubs and security, but for many, it’s a gamble on their livelihoods.
Visibility’s their shield; sticking them in a tower feels like locking the goods in a cupboard, away from the most valuable punters and the best chance of making a living.
Zoning Laws: How Europe Plays the Game
Amsterdam’s is certainly not the first to toy with moving its red light district out of the public eye.
European cities have been zoning sex work for years, with mixed results.
- Hamburg, Germany: The Reeperbahn’s been Germany’s sin strip since forever, but Hamburg’s strict zoning keeps it penned in St. Pauli. Brothels and clubs spill over a few blocks, with residential zones off-limits. It’s a tight ship. Sex work thrives, tourists flock, but locals rarely moan. Amsterdam’s Europaboulevard pitch mirrors this, aiming to cordon off the trade, but Hamburg’s sex district grew organically, not by decree. Forcing De Wallen’s workers into a new box feels a lot more like playing with fire.
- Paris, France: No window girls here. Prostitution’s street-based or tucked into discreet “salons.” Zoning’s less formal, but Bois de Boulogne’s long been the unofficial hub. It’s wooded, remote, and a total safety nightmare — assaults and trafficking spike all around it. Amsterdam’s girls fear Europaboulevard could echo this: a planned shift to the edge might trade visibility for vulnerability, a trade-off Paris knows too well.
- Zurich, Switzerland: The Swiss nailed it with their “sex boxes”. Drive-in stalls in a zoned industrial area, launched in 2013. It’s clinical, safe, and keeps the trade off downtown streets. Clients roll up, workers clock in, and cops patrol. Amsterdam’s Erotic Centre could take a leaf — structured, secure, away from the fray — but the setup in Zurich caters to cars, not windows. The Dutch model’s charm is its walk-up intimacy; a sterile compound is just not the same.
Still, we’ve seen over the years that zoning can work, but context is king.
Amsterdam’s challenge is to transplant a cultural icon without losing its edge. After all… De Wallen’s not just a business, it’s a brand. Shove it south, and you risk turning a lively trade into a really bad economic decision.
What’s Next for De Wallen?
So, where’s this all heading?
We don’t know for sure, but the silence is deafening.
If the council’s on board, we might see diggers on Europaboulevard by late 2025, with the centre humming by 2031. But the pushback’s fierce: sex workers rallying, locals grumbling, and no clear signal from City Hall.
At the moment, we’re in a tug-of-war between Halsema’s vision and a city that’s thrived on its sinful rep for as long as we can remember.
Will Amsterdam’s red light district swap canals for concrete? Or will the girls hold the line?
For now, the windows glow on, the punters roam, and the future is yet to be written.
Stay tuned. This one’s got more twists than a Dutch staircase!