Whose City Centre?
Young People and Youth-inclusive places in Lübeck's Old Town

My master's thesis investigates how young people experience, use, and relate to Lübeck’s Old Town. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, tourism destination, and city centre undergoing major transformation, the Old Town is shaped by several overlapping interests. The research asks which spaces young people currently use, what makes these places more or less inclusive, which opportunities are missing, and what could realistically be improved within the existing conditions of heritage protection, tourism, and urban planning.

The study combines eleven semi-structured interviews with young people, youth workers, institutional representatives, and planning professionals with document analysis and qualitative mapping. Using the concepts of third places and social infrastructure, I examined not only whether spaces are formally accessible, but whether young people can actually stay, meet others, feel safe, and develop a sense of belonging without being required to spend money or participate in a predefined activity.

The findings show that Lübeck already has several important youth-relevant spaces, including youth centres, the Central Library, informal outdoor meeting places, waterfront areas, and temporary projects such as the former shopping mall turned into a temporary cultural house. However, these spaces form a fragmented network. Some are limited by opening hours, capacity, weather, commercial expectations, or temporary funding, while others are formally public but do not necessarily feel welcoming to young people.

Young people particularly expressed a need for consumption-free indoor spaces, greener and more accessible waterfront areas, comfortable seating, public toilets, opportunities for sport and cultural activities, and spaces they can shape themselves. Just as important is the freedom to stay in public without being perceived as disruptive. The thesis therefore concludes that the main obstacle is not heritage protection itself, but the long-term implementation of existing ideas. Stable funding, cooperation between institutions, meaningful youth participation, and a more welcoming public attitude are essential. Rather than treating youth-inclusiveness as a separate project, it should become a continuous lens through which the city’s ongoing transformations are planned and evaluated.