The credit crisis and collapse of the office property market has led Amsterdam city council to order an immediate halt to all building projects in the city, the Parool reports on Friday.

Only projects considered crucial and socially-desirable which have proper funding will go ahead on a case by case basis, city council planning executive Maarten van Poelgeest said.
‘If a street has been broken up, the paving stones will be put back neatly,’ he told the paper.
At the moment, some 250 different projects – from office complexes to housing – are on the drawing board and it is not clear how many will eventually be abandoned.