The masonry bridge over the now dried-up rivulet of Jaitpur (the village occupying the site razed by the British in 1912) is a reminder of Mughal Emperor Akbar's interest in the region.

By the late 18th century the road marked the edge of the then controversial Shia enclave of Alipur, which contained the remains, houses, and troops of some estranged Persian nobles of the later Mughal court.

The post-independence spurt of institutions constructed along Lodi Road began with Jawaharlal Nehru's gift of some minor bungalow plots to the India International Center (IIC).

The Ford Foundation, the architectural input of Joseph Allen Stein, the "brown sahib" bureaucrat nexus, and the approval of the Indian government, allowed the gradual growth of institutions built in a sultanate-cum-prairie architectural style extending as far as the Lodi tombs in Lodi Gardens, which Stein re-landscaped in 1968.

Subsequently, the Chinmaya Mission, World Bank, INTACH and India Habitat Centre (IHC) constructed buildings in sympathetic materials and architectural styles.