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Purpose This study aims to thoroughly examine the trends and developments of crane layout planning (CLP) in the construction field and reveal future research directions for modular integrated construction (MiC). Design/methodology/approach Through a rigorous systematic mixed-review methodology that integrates bibliometric, scientometric and qualitative analysis, this study explored the crane layout research trend; the scientometric analysis of journal sources and keywords occurrence network; the research contributions and links between influential countries; the classification of research articles based on the type of problems and solution approaches; the qualitative analysis of existing findings and research gaps; and the future research direction for CLP in MiC. Findings This study found five categories under the CLP domain, namely, crane selection, crane location, integrated crane selection and location, integrated crane location and allocation of supply points and hybrid problems. The major research approaches used to solve CLP is optimization (43%), visualization (23%), decision support systems (16%), simulation (11%) and qualitative techniques (7%). The possible future research directions include artificial intelligence-based models, multi-crane locations, CLP for MiC re-use, dynamic models representing real-life scenarios and building information modeling-based virtual reality models. Originality/value Through a mixed-review methodology, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of problem settings and solution methods of CLP while mitigating the subjectivity of traditional review methods. Also, it presents a repertoire on CLP and illuminates future directions for seasoned researchers in the context of MiC.