The goal of this paper is to characterize, at least partially, upper semi-continuous decompositions of topological spaces and the role that upper semi-continuity plays in preserving certain topological properties under decomposition mappings. Attention is also given to establishing what role upper semi-continuity plays in determining conditions under which decomposition spaces possess certain properties. A number of results for non-upper semi-continuous decompositions are included to help clarify the scope of the part upper semi-continuity plays in determining relationships between topological spaces and their decomposition spaces.