LZ-Aurek, situated in Jedha City, was one of four landing zones established by the Imperial forces. Jedha City itself is a walled city on the desert moon called Jedha. The Empire created these landing zones upon seizing control of the city. Because the existing local spaceport did not meet their requirements, Imperial forces rapidly established four distinct areas within the city for use as landing zones and operational staging grounds. Jedha City's construction atop a mesa restricted spaceport expansion, so the Imperials demolished existing structures to create these zones, disregarding the displacement of residents and businesses.
LZ-Aurek was the largest of the four landing zones. It handled most of the Imperial military traffic coming from and going to the Star Destroyer in orbit, which housed the Imperial stormtroopers garrison. The other three landing zones, named LZ-Besh, LZ-Cresh, and LZ-Dorn, were smaller and more rudimentary. They were used solely for resupplying the ground-based stormtroopers and for loading and unloading cargo ships involved in their kyber crystal operations.