Abstract: The development zone is an important engine of regional economic development. Optimizing the spatial layout and industrial structure of the development zone is of great practical significance to the coordinated and sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic belt. This study uses statistical analysis and geospatial analysis to explore the spatial pattern evolution characteristics of development zones above the provincial level and their industries in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The main influencing factors of spatial distribution of technology intensive industries are analyzed by multiple linear regression method. The results show that the spatial layout of the Development zone of the Yangtze River Economic Belt changed from a scattered “multi-point” structure to a “T-shaped” structure from 1992 to 2012, and stabilized into a “grid” structure from 2012 to 2017.The spatial distribution of the development zone is stable in the direction of “southwest to northeast”, and the migration characteristic of the distribution center is “Northeast to due West to northeast”. The migration range from 2002 to 2012 is the largest, and from 2012 to 2017 is the smallest. The geographical space shows an overall trend of expansion. The spatial correlation of the development zone fluctuates on the whole, and the high-high agglomeration area first increases and then decreases. The technology-intensive industries in the development zone have absolute advantages, among which the equipment manufacturing industry is the main industry, and the electronic communication industry presents obvious spatial distribution characteristics of “one core and multiple poles”. The other four industries in the six industries are consistent with the spatial distribution characteristics of the development zone. Among the three types of industries, the aggregate shows the agglomeration characteristic of fluctuation, and only the labor-intensive industry in 1992 shows the dispersion characteristic. The urban economic environment has a positive relationship with the industrial development of the Development Zone, while there is a certain reverse relationship between the government’s introduction of foreign investment, and policy factors play an important role in the whole development process.