Objectives In the era of information, the popularization of mapping requirements has been extending the connotation of cartography, and has brought out a novel form of maps with the characteristics of scientificity, artistry and practicability, namely the pan‐map. From the perspective of geospatial cognition, constructing theories and methodologies of geographic scene map will be of great value for both improving representation system of the pan‐map and promoting the knowledge service abilities of maps.

Methods In this case, we firstly expound the inner logic of integrating the geographic scene into mapping process. Then, through constructing the relationship between geographic scene elements and geospatial information, the connotation and formalized representation framework of geographic scene maps are both elaborated by utilizing the method of typical case analysis. Finally, driven by the mechanism of multi-level geospatial cognition, the design principles and realization route of geographic scene maps are proposed.

Results (1) Geographic space plays the role of providing unified spatial reference for geographic scene. Geographic scene can be characterized by spatial distribution, association relationship and evolution process of geographic entities. Contextualized expression is the critical mean of visually depicting abstract information, such as social economic, history culture, and so on, which can enhance the geospatial information transmission from element description to meaning construction. (2) The geographic scene map is derived from the visualization of geographic scene elements, including time, place, person, thing, event and phenomenon. These elements have multi‐dimension geospatial features, such as spatial location, geometrical morphology, thematic attribute, and so on, which are the ones to be exhibited using contextualized visual language. The feedbacks of users further guide the optimization of geographic scene map. (3) The progressive relationship between intuition, feeling, perception, sensation, awareness and cognition constitute the mechanism of multi‐level geospatial cognition. Based on this mechanism, geographic scene map designing should satisfy five core principles, namely sensory adaptability, semantic clarity, task orientation, cognition support and intuition optimization, for the purpose of balancing scientificity and artistry. (4) There are multiple targets of map designing, including space perception, multi‐scale exhibition, mental representation, dynamic inference and context dependency, which can promote the decision support quality of geographic scene maps. Two typical map products, Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival and the Disneyland Park Map, fully illustrate that geographic scene maps become important mediums for spatial decision with both functionality and emotionality.

Conclusions The occurrence of pan‐maps are extending the researches of contemporary cartography. Geographic scene can comprehensively present the inter‐relation among geographic entities in the real world. From the perspective of pan‐map, constructing geographic scene maps has the potential of enabling upgrades from visual perception experience to psychological context building, from geographic information description to geographic knowledge inference, from static visualized map‐reading to dynamic interactive decision‐making.