Its construction was started in December 2011 as part of the venues used for 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

The complex, which occupies around 1,000,000 m2 of land, consists of a main arena with other smaller sport venues.

[4] The main arena consists of two parts, the 21,000-seater Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Arena and the 18,000-seater Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Stadium.

[5] The indoor arena can host a wide range of sports such as basketball, badminton, ice hockey, and gymnastics competitions.

During the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, some permanent and temporary venues were built such as BMX Park, rugby sevens field, hockey field, modern pentathlon course, and beach volleyball arena.