Purposes Taking Taiyuan City as the subject research area, this work tries to explore the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors of 59 modern industrial heritage sites in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. Methods Scale analysis, mathematical analysis and GIS spatial analysis methods were used. Conclusions The results indicate that: ①During the time of “First Five-Year Plan” and “Second Five-Year Plan” after the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Taiyuan City had the largest number of new industrial heritages, and the industrial categories were mainly concentrated in manufacturing, military industry, and mining. ②In terms of spatial distribution, Taiyuan’s the modern industrial heritage has a feature of aggregation, showing the distribution model of “a district and a belt”, which are the Xinghualing District Assembly Area and Gathering Belt along the Fenhe River in the Wanbailin District-Jinyuan District respectively. ③In terms of spatial distribution evolution, before the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the industrial heritages of the city of Taiyuan were concentrated in the area to the east of the Fenhe River and to the north of the old city of Taiyuan; After the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the area expanded to the northern suburbs of the city and to the region west of the Fenhe River. ④In terms of influencing factors, the industrial heritage distribution is affected by nature, transportation, population, history, politics, and other factors, mainly distributed in low-lying, low-slope plains, and along the railway, and is correlated with regional in-migration rate, population density, and level of regional urbanization. Thus, combined with the “Life Show Belt” policy of Taiyuan City, the construction concept of Taiyuan Modern Industrial Heritage Group is proposed, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the protection and reuse of Taiyuan City’s industrial heritages, and provide references for the transformation and renovation of the old urban areas.