Criminal, Cosmopolitan, Commodified: How Rotterdam’s Interwar Amusement Street, the Schiedamsedijk, Became a Safe Mirror Image of Itself

This chapter develops a layered analysis of the Schiedamsedijk, Rotterdam’s interwar amusement street. It links the street’s split socio-cultural character to that of port cities in general, and investigates this along the lines of a similar divide in perceptions of safety and security. Based on an historical bird’s-eye view of the pleasure area...