Lübeck's old town island forms the centre of the city, where there are a variety of uses, such as shopping, restaurants and leisure activities. The pedestrian zone is concentrated on Breite Straße, the market square and, at weekends, Hüxstraße. Along the central traffic axes of the city centre, such as Mühlenstraße and Beckergrube, there is a mix of residential and commercial uses. Other parts of the old town are predominantly residential, supplemented only in part by commercial uses on the ground floor.
There is a small commercial area in the north-east of Lübeck's old town, while the harbour area adjoins the north-west of the old town. However, there are no longer any industrial settlements there. Large parts of Lübeck's old town are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site due to their historical structure and symbolism of the Hanseatic era.