The mayor and aldermen of Amsterdam are postponing further decisions about the new erotic center to be built until after the municipal elections of March 2026. This is stated in a letter from Mayor Femke Halsema that she sent to the council on Thursday. She speaks of “a complex and sensitive process”.
The erotic center, with the Europaboulevard in Amsterdam South as its intended location, seems “spatially and financially feasible”. But residents, sex workers and other stakeholders have expressed questions and concerns, Halsema writes. That is why further research will be conducted into the size of the centre, parking facilities and safety. It is expected that a new city council will be able to follow up on the plans by the middle of next year.
The erotic center must become an alternative to the Red Light District. In the Amsterdam city center, sex workers are insufficiently protected and residents no longer feel at home due to crowds, according to the municipality. Dozens of measures, such as an alcohol and smoking ban and earlier closing times for catering establishments, had insufficient effect.
The plan for the center has been in existence since 2020. In 2023, the location on the Europaboulevard next to the Amsterdam ring road A10 was chosen. The current council included the plan in the coalition agreement. Several parties criticized the plans, including the South district, where the center should be located. The project’s consultation process received almost eight hundred responses. The local branch of D66 also no longer included the plan in the election manifesto for the March municipal elections. D66, together with the PvdA and GroenLinks, forms the executive board in Amsterdam.
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