A Peep at 10 of the World's Most Popular Red Light Districts

Recently the journal City gave a blushing tribute to Amsterdam's red light district: seven scholarly papers tracking the cultural, political, and aesthetic history of the (in)famous locale. In their introduction to the special section, guest editors Manuel Aalbers of the University of Amsterdam and Magdalena Sabat of New York University argue that Amsterdam's De Wallen area "may be the quintessential and perhaps even the paradigmatic red light district."

But of course it's not the only one. As Aalbers and Sabat also point out, cities around the world have a long-standing "special relationship" with the sex industry. In some cities, the red light district is an identifiable place of prostitution (legal, illegal, and illegally regulated alike). In others, it's limited to sex shops, strip clubs, and adult cinemas. Universally it's the place where urban morals, margins, and mainstream converge — under cover of a neon glow.