The protection of historic sites, especially their relationship with urban development, has become a worldwide issue, both in developed and developing countries. In the context of rapid urbanization in China, the realistic compatibility between urban construction and the protection of historic sites is always a key research topic. In this study, first, to comprehend their spatial distribution patterns, 828 historic sites throughout the country are selected based on certain criteria. Then, we conduct quantitative research using GIS software, adopting indicators that include Nearest Neighbor Index, Gini Coefficient, and Geographic Concentration Index to analyze the spatial characteristics of historic sites on the three levels of city, province and nation. The results indicate that the spatial distribution of the different types of historic sites is an agglomeration on the nationwide scale, most of which is located in the regions of the Pearl(Zhujiang) River Delta, Yangtze(Changjiang) River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin Region. Because the majority of historic sites are located within approximately 10 km of the downtown area, a certain pattern has emerged, showing that the larger cities own more historic areas, which are in a more incomplete state of preservation, indicating the fragmentation of heritage spaces. The formation mechanism of the historic sites' distribution pattern is based on the conditions of the cities/towns as well as the bid-rent theory.
