The journal was founded in 1968 to provide a forum for inter-disciplinary debate on social change, its particular modality, and the effects it has on urban and territorial organisation. Due to its scientific outlook it publishes mainly research reports and reflections on specific disciplinary aspects, as well as forays into different areas of social science, reviews of the latest literature and papers of original thought. The editorials express 'contentious' points of view on the most salient aspects of current political and cultural debate.

The themes the journal addresses generally involve examination of the diverse aspects of social change, usually approached from a territorial viewpoint. Among the subjects covered most by contributors, all of whom are selected by the journal's editorial body, are issues inherent in the imbalance between territories; the characteristics and effects of the social and economic processes at work within cities and society; the evolutionary form of territorial areas and metropolitan zones, their features and relative problems, such as mobility, malaise, immigration.

The main aims of the Archivio are: to promote disciplinary knowledge of the various issues that touch a territory and aid understanding of its dimensions and manifestations; to provide updates, as well as a voice for new interpretations or innovative approaches to social and economic processes. The main target audience of Archive of Urban and Regional Studies (Archivio di studi urbani e regionali) is the academic sector - researchers, economists, sociologists, territorial experts, urban planners, students of the respective disciplines - but also targeted are administrators and public decision makers interested in social change and the evolution of territorial usage and construction.