The neighborhood abounds with multi-national commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, tourist spots, star hotels, restaurants, and cultural centers.

Raman's The Early History of the Madras Region, Nungambakkam features in an 11th-century CE copper plate pertaining to Rajendra Chola.

[citation needed] In the early part of the 20th century, Nungambakkam rose as one of the upper-class European residential areas, housing civil servants and influential members of the city administration.

Most of the neighborhood today is built upon the Long Tank which was encroached and eventually made a landfill in the early 1970's.

Traffic is very high in Nungambakkam during peak hours (8am-11am and 6pm-9.30pm) due to various road junctions which connects some important places in Chennai city.

Nungambakkam is also home to the Austrian, Canadian and South Korean consulates in Chennai, as well as the British Deputy High Commission.