Over the past two decades, the development of a new set of technologies, devices and applications has supported the emergence of a new infocommunicational landscape in cities—one of the key fuels to the growth of smart cities movement. Digital media platforms, ubiquitous technologies and geographic annotation technologies have blurred the boundaries of virtual and physical environments—with an access through digital devices and specifically mobile devices. The paper aims to investigate the emerging location-based and mapping technologies to develop a clearer understanding on their applicability in the urban context by identifying and categorizing the key drivers based on desired outcomes. In order to achieve this aim, the study undertakes a systematic literature review on the planned and applied use of location-based technologies for mapping urban environments. In doing so, the paper outlines the spatial distribution of these advanced technologies across globe, and presents a synthesis of the emerging themes and categories, and potential avenues for future research. The study findings reveal three types of mapping approaches—i.e., reason-oriented, sense-oriented and community-oriented—that are linked to two modes of use—i.e., desktop and in-situ.

在过去的二十年里，一套新的技术、设备和应用程序的发展支持了城市中新的信息通信景观的出现——这是智慧城市运动发展的关键燃料之一。数字媒体平台、无处不在的技术和地理标注技术已经模糊了虚拟和物理环境的界限——通过数字设备，特别是移动设备进行访问。本文旨在调查新兴的基于位置和地图绘制技术，通过根据预期结果识别和分类关键驱动因素，更清楚地了解它们在城市环境中的适用性。为了实现这一目标，该研究对基于位置的技术用于绘制城市环境的规划和应用进行了系统的文献审查。为此，本文概述了这些先进技术在全球的空间分布，并综合了新兴主题和类别，以及未来研究的潜在途径。研究结果揭示了三种类型的映射方法——即理性导向、感官导向和社区导向——与两种使用模式（即桌面和原位）相关联。