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| Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam. |
Amsterdam procupa-se e tenta gerir estratégicamente o fluxo
do Turismo de Massas fazendo opções explícitas e desenvolvendo estratégias para equílibrar a
espiral especulativa no Imobiliário e o efeito pernicioso dos ‘expats’ no
aumento do preço das casas e dos alugueres.
“What’s of great importance to the city is that Amsterdam is
a place where people live,” the mayor said. “This is not a frozen tourist spot
where life becomes difficult. We need to think about what kind of tourists we
want to attract”
“Managing tourist flows is just one of the issues on
Halsema’s plate as she contends with everything from an influx of people from
Brexit-driven changes in London to keeping Amsterdam housing affordable amid
sizzling property prices.
Locals have expressed concerns about rising visitor numbers,
pointing to the need to keep the city livable.”
“With the city of about 850,000 drawing 18 million tourists
in 2016 -- the latest available figure -- Halsema says redefining the red-light
district will both de-congest the canal city and revive the Dutch capital’s
historic zone.”
OVOODOCORVO
Amsterdam Brothels to Get a Review by City's First Female
Mayor
By Ellen Proper and
Joost Akkermans
11 december 2018 06:00 CET
Do scantily-clad
women in windows have a place in #MeToo era?
Mayor is also
struggling with keeping Amsterdam affordable
Amsterdam’s first female mayor is rethinking its
centuries-old red-light district.
The Wallen district sits in the oldest part of the city and
at its creation in the 14th century was where free women, mostly Dutch, served
sailors and traders without shame. Now, with more than 370 windows displaying
scantily-clad women jeered by drunk tourists and photo-taking oglers who
dehumanize them, the area, one of the biggest tourist draws in the city, is no
longer fitting for a modern city, says Femke Halsema.
“Too often now we see vulnerable foreign women behind
windows being booed by hordes of drunken tourists,” the 52-year-old mayor, who’s
five months into her job, said in an interview in her offices in the city hall
building overlooking the Amstel river. “Our inner city is one of the oldest in
Europe with an enormous culture historical significance, which is obviously
deteriorating. We would like tourists to see the cultural value.”
While the city intends to keep prostitution above-board and
safe, the review of the district is part of a broader effort to spread visitors
across the city, and owners of the window brothels are increasingly willing to
consider it. With the city of about 850,000 drawing 18 million tourists in 2016
-- the latest available figure -- Halsema says redefining the red-light
district will both de-congest the canal city and revive the Dutch capital’s
historic zone.
The Amsterdammers
Managing tourist flows is just one of the issues on
Halsema’s plate as she contends with everything from an influx of people from
Brexit-driven changes in London to keeping Amsterdam housing affordable amid
sizzling property prices.
Locals have expressed concerns about rising visitor numbers,
pointing to the need to keep the city livable. Amsterdammers got the mayor’s
support to scrap a planned jetty that would have allowed commercial boats to
moor in a canal a few meters from the famous Anne Frank house.
“What’s of great importance to the city is that Amsterdam is
a place where people live,” the mayor said. “This is not a frozen tourist spot
where life becomes difficult. We need to think about what kind of tourists we
want to attract, as we shouldn’t have any illusion that the number of tourists
in the city will go down. It will keep on rising.”
Brexit Refugees
The other influx Halsema is preparing for is
Brexit-escapees. A first group of some 60 European Medicines Agency (EMA)
employees is already working in Amsterdam after the regulator decided to move
from London. Hundreds more are expected. The city is also working on attracting
new-economy companies.
All that will mean rising demand for housing in a city
already struggling with a severe shortage of roofs. While Amsterdam plans to
build 52,500 houses for low-and- middle income families by 2025, the issue is
going to remain one of the biggest challenges for the mayor.
“Part of the city is becoming very rich, and housing prices
are becoming very expensive as a consequence,” said the mayor, a former Green
party leader in parliament. She’s concerned that home options are narrowing for
ordinary people like teachers, nurses, police officers, and expats with modest
incomes.
Testing Tolerance
Another issue Halsema said she’s contending with is trying
to ensure that the city lives up to its reputation for tolerance. She was
alluding to a recent attack on a drag queen.
“At times Amsterdam has been called too open,” Halsema said.
“I think we should currently worry more about whether we are open enough.”
Halsema recently raised hackles by publicly suggesting she
won’t follow a law banning burqas on public transport, in schools and
government buildings. She later told councilors that Amsterdam will uphold the
law, while stressing that the city and its police have more pressing
priorities.
She also touched on what it means to be the first female
mayor in the city’s more than 700-year history. She says she was struck by the
front page of the local Het Parool newspaper in June with portraits of some
previous mayors -- all male, except her.
“The Netherlands is a strange country,” Halsema says. “We
create the impression that we are an emancipated country, but looking at the
figures in public administration, in business, at our universities, we are
lagging behind. The only thing you can do is being a role model, and making
sure there are many women role models visible in the city.”
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