Neptis's essential focus is on the physical and spatial structure of urban regions; their topography and built patterns of social and economic accommodation; their patterns of movement, communications, and transportation; their environmental quality-- what we call their architecture.

Cities have historically been an appropriate realm of architecture-- of integrated understanding, theory, and practice. In Western civilization, there is the foundation of Roman city-building throughout the Empire, as put forward in the texts of Vitruvius. These cities were based on codes of order-- of structure and of the location of urban functions and buildings. Chinese culture codified city-design in the form of an ideal model (the Kao Gong Ji) as early as 150 B.C.

However, the contemporary urban region is so complex and difficult to understand, let alone plan and manage, that it has receded as a subject of architectural study. The need for regional architectural knowledge and design is particularly evident in issues of land use, urban form, transportation and the environment and the dysfunctions that universally occur to one degree or another in urban regions--including extreme difficulties in movement, and worsening local and global environments. New kinds of analysis, description, and thought are required.

The physical manifestations of the urban region are, therefore, of central interest to Neptis. They are the result of numerous influences-- the economy, agriculture, the environment, immigration, energy, finance, and governance. In consequence, Neptis conducts studies in these areas of research, including historical studies of the region's development and its management.