It is located in the southern part of the Chennai city sharing borders with Guindy in the north, Taramani in the east, Perungudi in the south-east, Pallikaranai in the south, Madipakkam in south-west, Adambakkam in the west and north-west.

The oldest kalvettus in Velachery are in the ancient Selliamman temple from the reigns of Parakesarivarman/Parantaka Chola (9th century) and Parthivendravarman.

During the 12th century, Velachery, along with the rest of Tondaimandalam, was thought to have briefly come under the rule of the Kadavas (or Kadavarayas) who were feudatory powers under the Cholas and subsequent Pandya emperors.

[11][12] However, under the subsequent Vijayanagara empire and their feudatories, the power of the local assemblies seems to have progressively declined in favour of more centralized rule.

Contemporary accounts from Kavanur near Tiruvottiyur[14] describe how the village assemblies receiving money from individuals and agreeing to pay interest on it.

[16] In the epigraphs,[17] some parts of the Velachery village were known as Dinachintamani Chaturvedimangalam in honor of land grants given to Brahmins for teaching the four Vedas.

Velachery is a prominent residential neighbourhood in Chennai, which gained importance as the city expanded in the late 20th century.

The second part of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Tirumailai and Velachery was formally inaugurated by M. Karunanidhi (former CM of Tamil Nadu) in the presence of R.Velu (former Union Minister of State for Railways) and this became operational on 15 November 2007.

Even though most of the regions in Velachery are flood prone, major investments have gone in to improve the storm water drain network in the locality.

The corporation has also invested in rail and road connectivity to Velachery from the central business districts of Chennai.

The storm water drain network is being constructed underneath the 6 lane road connecting Velachery with Taramani.

[26] The corporation has initiated a major development plan for Velachery lake since it is one of the very few surviving water bodies in the city.

A major concern is that the recent rapid developments has also resulted in a few drawbacks, such as water scarcity, congestion of roads and the damage to the marshland.

Generally, it is felt that after the canal was built; to a major extent, the flooding problem in many areas along the 100-foot road had decreased substantially.

A major storm water drain project running all through the Taramani Link road from Vijayanagar bus stand in Velachery connecting South Buckingham canal is in progress.

This project which is funded by the World Bank, is expected to bring much relief to the residents of flood-prone Velachery.

These spoil the underground water and are breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other flies and the frequent burning of the waste also creates a lot of pollution problems to the people especially those traveling past it.

IT and working-class people prefer to settle in Velachery as more IT parks emerge on the Old Mahabalipuram road and its proximity to the Central Business Districts of Chennai.

This part of Chennai was considered to be socio-economically backwards a decade ago, but the area has changed rapidly after a string of key residential projects.