In 1996 Amsterdam held its first Canal Parade, and about 300 people from the electronic music world met at De Balie for what became the Amsterdam Dance Event.
Ajax also played its first match in a new stadium in Zuidoost, and the city council decided to build the Noord/Zuidlijn and IJburg.
City historian Fred Feddes says Amsterdam had a battered image in the early 1990s and had to reinvent itself as the economy picked up.
Coffee and bagels
That year Rick Bekkema and Dick de Kock opened the first Coffeecompany on Leidsestraat, where taking your coffee to go was a new idea for Amsterdam.
Ronald Bakker and Ninande Thio opened Bagels & Beans in De Pijp, at a time when hardly anyone in the city knew what a bagel was.
A digital city
Internet pioneers, who had launched De Digitale Stad at De Balie in 1994, came together at De Waag on Nieuwmarkt in 1996, where Waag Futurelab was born.
Historian Tim Verlaan says Amsterdam was in the middle of a comeback around then, as ambitious people wanted to live in the city again.
Craving an espresso now? Check out our guide to coffee and brunch in Amsterdam.