During the mid-20th century it became a major manufacturing and commercial area, and eventually an incorporated satellite city of the expanding Greater Melbourne conurbation.

Prior to the European settlement of Australia, the flat to undulating land was densely forested with red gum and was inhabited by the Woiwurrung Indigenous Australian tribe.

The name is generally thought to be derived from the Woiwurrung word "Tanjenong" meaning "lofty mountains" possibly referring to the nearby Dandenong ranges.

Milling of the red gum timber became an important industry, and charcoal burning, tanning, quarrying and brick making also flourished.

The two-storey, stucco rendered brick building, on a bluestone base course, features a lofty, Mansard-roofed, corner clock tower and projecting end wings with serlian motif windows and capped by pedimented niches.

[citation needed] In the 1950s, Melbourne rapidly expanded south east along the Princes Highway and Gippsland railway line to Dandenong and beyond and it became a major metropolitan manufacturing and commercial area as industry extended into the outer suburbs.

Under the Melbourne 2030 policy, Dandenong was classified as a major activity centre[15] due to its central location with regard to its access to transport.

These projects can be considered to be transit-oriented development, where population density is intended to be higher compared to other areas with poorer access to transport.

[citation needed] The State Government funding was spent on land acquisition and consolidation, delivery of infrastructure upgrades (Londsdale Street, Stockman's Bridge, Station precinct upgrades and public amenity) and facilitation of key catalyst projects such as the Australian Taxation Office, brand new Council Civic Centre and the State Government Services Hub.

[17] Because the site is isolated from the rest of the central Dandenong area, George Street was widened and extended with a bridge across the railway lines to improve access between the precincts.

[19] Redevelopment of the Dandenong Town Hall (built in 1880) into a performing arts centre began in 2004 known as Drum Theatre to a designed by Williams Ross Architects.

The suburb is situated northeast of the confluence of the Mile Creek into the lower section of the Dandenong Creek, a major urban stream that flows west from the foothill of the Dandenong Ranges at Olinda before turning at the junction of Ringwood, Vermont and Wantirna to course southwards meanderingly and form the Patterson River at Bangholme.

30.9% of people born in Australia with other common countries of birth being Afghanistan 11.5%, India 9.5%, Sri Lanka 5.4%, Pakistan 4% and North Macedonia 2.7%.

[22] Dandenong is primarily a private transport-dependent community due to the relatively poorer public transit compared to other suburbs closer to the CBD.

It is approximately 50 minutes from Flinders Street station in Melbourne CBD by stopping-all-station train, but shorter if via limited express services.

In a council planning policy document, light rail is suggested as a future transport mode for the central Dandenong area.

Dandenong Thunder plays in the Victorian Premier League which is the second tier behind the A-League and enjoys much support from the local community[citation needed].

[27] Dandenong-based teams have hosted many international players in its time, including Ljubo Miličević, Eugene Galeković, Ante Milicic, Cengiz Benlisoy, Semih Yildiz, Cenk Ali and Ilker Berberoglu.

Other prominent players from the club include Ian Harvey, James Pattinson, Brett Forsyth, Ercan Ileri, Jackson Coleman and Kumar Sana.

The South Eastern Titans Rugby League club fields both junior & senior teams in the NRL Victoria competition.