Virtual reality (VR) technology offers users an independent immersive virtual reality environment (IVRE) free from physical constraints, thereby possessing the potential to address spatial issues across individual, organizational, and societal levels. Driven by recent innovative advancements such as the miniaturization and simplification of IVR devices and significant progress in simulation technologies, IVRE has emerged as a next-generation spatial domain capable of overcoming the limitations of physical reality. A critical factor in utilizing IVRE effectively is sustaining continuous user immersion, which becomes particularly crucial during transitions between virtual spaces. However, currently available commercial platforms commonly rely on traditional transition methods, such as fade-in/fade-out effects or loading time screens with buffering icons, when navigating between multiple spaces. These approaches often hinder the user’s sense of continuous immersion within the IVRE. Consequently, research is required to explore transition techniques suitable for IVRE that minimize immersion disruption. This study conducts a systematic literature review to analyze approaches that leverage the ‘spatialization’ technique to sustain continuous immersion during spatial transitions. Based on this analysis, a theoretical framework for designing such immersive spaces is proposed. The study emphasizes the significance of spatial transitions in IVRE environments and highlights the need for further empirical validation of the proposed framework as well as its methodological expansion to various types of spatial contexts in IVRE. Furthermore, the framework offers practical guidelines for IVRE designers to create effective spatial designs, ultimately contributing to the sustainable integration of IVRE with physical reality to realize future living environments.