Amsterdam's mayor Job Cohen laid out plans Monday to curb prostitution in the Dutch city, replacing many of the notorious red-light "windows" with upmarket restaurants and art galleries.

"We are going to clean up, and massively cut down on the number of prostitutes' windows and coffee shops (selling soft drugs), and fast-food joints," said Cohen at a press conference.

While he said that prostitution would not be outlawed entirely, specific streets and squares within the city's historic centre would be banned from housing sex commerce.