Zaigomachi was different from Jokamachi (castle town) or Jinyamachi (town around the feudal lord's residence) which prospered around the castle or the hancho (feudal lord's office/residence), Shukubamachi (post station town) which was formed around shukuba (post station), or Monzenmachi (temple town) formed around a temple or a shrine and did not have any landmark featuring the town (castle, big post station, large temple or shrine, or the like) and it spontaneously developed in farming villages a distance from the aforementioned machi (towns).
城郭や藩庁などを中心に栄えた城下町や陣屋町、宿場中心に形成された宿場町、寺社を中心に形成された門前町などと決定的に違うのは、町の中心となる施設（城郭・大きな宿場・有力寺社など）がないことで、前述の町等まで距離がある農村部において自然発生的にできたものである。