Abstract: Data centers, as a critical form of new infrastructure, plays an important role in supporting national strategies and integrating real and digital economies. This paper examines data center layout and site selection from the perspective of new quality productive forces, focusing on their relationship with the development of new towns and districts. Data centers not only require substantial resources, such as electricity, water, and land, but also sustainable services and user accessibility. Hyper-scale centers favor low-cost, naturally cooler regions to minimize operational expenses, while medium and large centers prioritize proximity to markets to reduce latency. Small centers exhibit greater locational flexibility. Domestic and international case studies show a preference for city peripheries, influenced by factors such as user markets, geography, infrastructure, policies, and disaster resilience. New towns and new districts, as favored sites for data centers, align with site selection criteria, enhance regional functionality, and foster new quality productive forces, offering fresh opportunities to advance urban development.