Essay on Seventeenth Century Amsterdam

Introduction

Dating back to 12th and 13th centuries, Amsterdam found its onset as a business city. During this period, Amsterdam citizens saw the significance and value of establishing an effective relationship with other cultures that helped in facilitating its business and economic development. According to Pratt (124), in 17th century, Amsterdam experienced unprecedented growth and influence due to high level of immigrants. As a result, Amsterdam city developed into a leading metropolis within few years, becoming the globe's leading city in trade and architecture.

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Based on the increased immigration, the city had many races with different cultures and practices. Therefore, with these cultures and practices, Amsterdam city can be considered as a city of contradiction in many ways. According to Van Gent, Wouter, and Sako Musterd (896), Amsterdam as a melting point of cultures-Amsterdam is a multicultural town and embracing different lifestyles, beliefs, and religions. First the Amsterdam city is viewed by majority as the gay capital in Europe, but has dynamic squatters' associations. This is a contradictory to many new people and other nations who consider Amsterdam as a gay free city. Second, In Amsterdam city there are many religious practices being practiced by citizens. For example, there exists Muslim, Buddhism, and Christianity. Next to the religious buildings there are sext theatres, sexshops, and prostitutes who operate from these holy buildings. This is a contradiction as the prostitutes people engage in sex practices and attend to religion at the same time.

Third, in Amsterdam, hard drugs are illegalized by the law. However, drugs such as marijuana and tobacco are highly being consumed by the citizens and the government collects taxes from such business (Amsterdam counter culture, 2016). This is a contradiction since the government illegalizes drugs while still allowing hard drugs to be consumed. For example, along the Amsterdam streets, citizens consume marijuana and tobacco and not being arrested by the police. Moreover, the city is essential for the development of philosophy and science as it is characterized by new scientific advances and many insights (Savini, 1153). Consequently, the city has new technology devices and resources that are not found in other cities thereby providing a better place to study science.

Works Cited

Amsterdam counter culture:Virtues and vices Dance cheek to cheek 2016:Retrieved from: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/amsterdams-counter-culture-virtues-and-vices-dance-cheek-to-cheek

Gawronski, Jerzy. "Cities and oceans. The urban development of 16th-and 17th-century Amsterdam and maritime culture." Ships And Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Amsterdam 2012. Barkhuis, 2017.Pratt, Andy C. "The cultural contradictions of the creative city." City, culture and society 2.3 (2011): 123-130.

Savini, Federico. "SelfOrganization and Urban Development: Disaggregating the CityRegion, Deconstructing Urbanity in Amsterdam." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 40.6 (2016): 1152-1169.

Van Gent, Wouter, and Sako Musterd. "Class, migrants, and the European city: spatial impacts of structural changes in early twenty-first century Amsterdam." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42.6 (2016): 893-912.