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11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

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2005 Archive

Higher parking fees not harmful

22 September 2007 - The city’s plans to increase parking fees in the area within the ring road will have a very limited effect on the local economy, according to an Ecorys study. By increasing parking fees, the city wants to improve air quality.

According to the city’s plans, parking fees will be raised to 3.80 euro per hour. On the short term, the measure is expected to have an impact on clubs, prostitution and shopping areas that depend on large shops that shoppers visit by car, such as DIY shops, kitchen appliance shops and large supermarkets.

On the longer term, the measure might speed up a transformation process of activities with limited added value disappearing from the city, being replaced by activities such as ICT, new media, services, shops, hotels, restaurants and bars. In fact, this amounts to an enlargement of the inner city economy.

For comparison, Ecorys has studied the effects of economic measures by which cities such as London and Stockholm have successfully decreased car use. These were found to have had only a limited and short term negative impact on local businesses.

In London, business owners initially opposed the ‘congestion charge’ drivers must pay to enter the city centre. By now, business owners who support the measure outnumber those who are against it.

The Ecorys-report is contested by a Dutch retail organisation which claims that higher parking fees will result in a 15% decrease in turnover, citing unspecified ‘earlier experiences of shop owners in a comparable situation’.

Het Parool reports that the Amsterdam chapter of trade union FNV Bondgenoten has joined the critics. “Companies are already moving to other cities or regions, harming the Amsterdam economy and employment”, the organisation claims.

The VVD - advertising itself as the ‘most environmentally friendly car party of Amsterdam’ - has launched a campaign against higher parking fees. Council member Robert Flos claims that ‘smarter measures’ can improve air quality without hurting car owners. The party is going to distribute stickers and ‘gadgets’.

Illustration: ‘Are you rich enough to vote left’ sticker. Ecorys study, VVD campaign, retail organisation (all in Dutch)

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