[1] As of 2023, it consists of numerous four and five-star hotels, restaurants, premium office towers, hospitals as well as shopping and entertainment centers.

Its proximity between Jakarta's primary central business district, a Southeast Asian tourist hotspot, and one of the busiest ports in the world,[3] has made Kemayoran a prime real estate for many local and foreign investors.

As of 2022, the government has finished the construction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station in Kemayoran with the rest of Jakarta by that means.

The name is Mayoran first appeared in Java Government Gazette on February 24, 1816, described as "a land close to Weltevreden".

After the independence of Indonesia, Kemayoran became part of the Sawah Besar district in Penjaringan, Jakarta Raya.

[5] At first, the inhabitants of Kemayoran were natives from a mixture of several ethnic groups from the local kingdom of Pajajaran, Demak, Mataram, and several foreign nations who arrived as immigrants.

After the Dutch occupied, there were immigrants from China, India, Sumatra, and East Indonesia that were used as workers for the expansion and development of Batavia or to participate in military service against Sultan Hasanuddin and Sultan Agung of Mataram.

[5] Under the government of Daendels, to collect funds for the construction of the new Anyer-Panarukan road, some lands were sold to private owners.

Lands were purchased for the expansion of the city, which included the settlements of Kemayoran, Petojo, Jatibaru, Cideng, Kramat, and Tanah Tinggi.

After Indonesian independence, a wave of urban migrants arrived in Kemayoran and Jakarta from various regions in Indonesia such as West Java, Central Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, and West Nusa Tenggara.

The government added numerous infrastructure such as the Light rail and Trans-Java Toll Road, to support the rapid growth of the central business district of Kemayoran.

Songs that were popular at the time included Onde-onde, Si Jongkong Kopyor, and Kapal Karem.

Styles of pencak silat developed in Kemayoran area are Beksi, Cingkrik, Si tembak, Sin lam ba, and Kolong meja.

Until the late 80's, it is a common routine for children to practice pencak silat after the Isha prayers.

There are many folklores associated with Kemayoran, usually involving the conflict between the indigenous people of Kemayoran and the Dutch kompeni (local term for Dutch East India Company who applied huge taxes to the local people.)