唐長安、洛陽、宋汴京、渤海上京、遼上京、中京六座都城，以長安為基準，其後各城皆以之為藍本而建；形式多為長方或略方。以城市大小而言，依序為長安、洛陽、汴京、渤海上京、遼中京、遼上京。六京皆為三重城，但長安、洛陽皇城、宮城為相連而不似其他各京之重重相套。在地理上多依山臨水、或臨水平原，可見水運及防禦條件之普遍性要求。城牆構築以旁土板築為主，洛陽、汴京有磚包砌之牆，而渤海皇、宮城皆由石砌而成，較為特殊。平均10公分上下之旁厚較為普通，牆基寬較厚者為長安，洛陽、汴京，約在15至20公尺，遼兩京在12公尺上下，渤海上京最窄。至於城牆高度皆無法實測確認，估計長安、洛陽在3、4公尺，汴京為9公尺上下，遼上京約9公尺，中京約6公尺。城牆設施中護城壕於考古發掘僅得長安、汴京、渤海上京三城，城門設置多依長安，四面開門，並有主幹大道通貫，城門以長安、汴京開設最多，至於甕城則僅見汴京、遼上京、中京，餘皆無所見，可知較普遍設甕城應始於唐末以後，角樓、馬面等之發掘亦同。都城之佈局採中軸線立主幹大道，皇、宮城居中者，除洛陽外，其餘諸城皆如此，是為都城之基本模式，街道寬度最大者為長安、洛陽達150公尺，街道間隔成相當規整之坊里，計百餘坊，坊中街道亦規整，構成巷曲，皆有坊門，唯遼上京略見少數坊里，中京則未見，坊里中特設東西市等商業集中區，然除長安、洛陽外，其餘各都城則欠詳，或即沿街為市，商業化較普遍，未作特別區劃，或因文獻、考古資料缺乏而不詳。三重城之基本格局，坐北朝南，皇、宮城居此中央，南北中軸線均分東西對稱二部份，主幹大道貫穿南北三重城等，除洛陽皇、宮城偏西北外為各都城之大體形態。宋、遼都城防禦設施較多，而遼都城之坊里劃分較不顯著。
Liao Upper Capital and Liao Central Capital were built by imitation with the Hans Chang-An Tang and Lou-yang. Like Pou-Hai Upper Capital and Song Biang-jing, the basic form regards capital in the Tang Dynasty as the original version too it is like this too on the overall arrangement of the city. Though two capitals of the Liao Dynasty didn't have complete plan as Tang Chang-An, but like Liao Upper Capital and Song Biang-jing, they were the standard triple city. The palace of Chang-An and Lou-yang were linked with emperor (inside) city, but weren't put on among them. In addition, the defense installation of the capitals in the Song and Liao Dynasty was relatively intact, the room of two capitals in the Liao Dynasty originally opened the door to the east, and the space was set up for tents. Those were obviously inherent custom and culture of the Khitans.
