(Long link, make sure you cut-paste it properly.)
Looks to me like, in some ways, they're "making sure the city is safe for mongering and weed" by eliminating the GLUT of establishments and thus reducing the risk to silly uninformed tourists. I haven't been to the 'Dam since 1991 (IIRC), so I can't comment on what it's been like lately. But I find it hard to believe that the vibe could be eliminated effectively in the way Giuliani succeeded in ruining Times Square ...
Then again, the Dutch did give us Calvinism.
I read the article a couple of days ago. My step daughter has a friend that is an M.D. in Amsterdam and she has gone over there several times in the last few years. She stayed at her friends house and got to see the real Netherlands. She saw the red light district and was at first a little shocked. Last time she went, she tried to get me to go with her. I said "What for?" She replied "The women (prostitutes)". I passed. In her opinion, things have gotten a little out of hand. Even for the Dutch.