Amsterdam plans to transform Damstraat into luxurious shopping street

DutchAmsterdam.nl — Amsterdammers and rich tourists avoid Damstraat and other shopping streets in the area, which is why Amsterdam wants coffeeshops, mini supermarkets and tourist shops vanish.

By the year 2020 the Amsterdam Centrum borough wants to see the area transformed into a luxury shopping street with matching, quality restaurants.

Damstraat, Amsterdam with the Royal Palace in the background

Maleficent property owners must be bought out and criminogenic businesses must disappear.

The approach is part of Project 1012 — an ambitious effort to spruce up Amsterdam’s historic city center, including the world-famous Red Light District.

The project is named after the postal code that covers most of downtown Amsterdam.

Damstraat, Oude Doelenstraat and Oude- en Nieuwe Hoogstraat, together with Pijlsteeg (an alley that runs parallel with Damstraat) together form one of the city’s oldest shopping areas. The streets sport a rich collection of small, historic buildings.

On a busy Saturday some 35.000 people walk or cycle through the narrow streets. But Amsterdammers and well-off tourists either avoid or merely quickly pass through the streets — while budget tourists on their way to or from the Red Light District tend to hang around.

They are attracted in part by a plethora of cheap fast-food eateries and souvenir shops.