Nasr City was established in the 1960s as an extension to the neighboring settlement of Heliopolis. The establishment of the district was part of the Egyptian Government's plan to modernise and expand Cairo following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian President at the time, was involved personally in the design process, and was the one who chose the name Nasr for the new district ("nasr" being the Arabic word for "victory"). During the early stages of the project it was envisioned that it would constitute a new capital city.

Nasr City is overpopulated, and as such there are numerous schools found in the district. This section will list only a few of the many educational options for children in grades K-12. Private schools offering the Egyptian curriculum include Roots Language school, Harvard Egypt college, Alahram language school, Al Bayan Modern school, Al Manhal school, a branch of Futures Educational systems, one of Nermien Ismail National school's branches, the Egyptian Language school, El Alson language schools, and El Andalaus Azharian schools. Public experimental schools (offering the national curriculum in English) include El Sedeek Experimental school, Ibn El Nafees Experimental school, Elmostakbal language experimental schools, and Abbas El Akkad Experimental schools. Ordinary public schools (offering the national curriculum in Arabic) can be found in every neighbourhood. International options include the Futures Educational Systems American school and the Roots International school (British curriculum). Manaret Heliopolis International School is the only International Baccalaureate (IB) School in the district. Assignment to public schools or experimental schools is generally based on location and siblings' current school and is supervised by the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Child Development. Application to private schools is difficult, and usually begins in the preschool (age 3–4) or KG (age 5–6) levels. However, due to Nasr City's central location, residents of the district can easily send their children to private schools in the neighboring New Cairo (to the east), Heliopolis (to the northwest) and Maadi (to the southwest) districts, with minimum commute.

Nasr City has a large concentration of shopping malls (Genena Mall, Tiba Outlet Mall, City Center, Serag Mall, City Stars, Suncity Mall). There are eight shopping malls in the area, where City Star is one of the largest malls in Egypt, most of which were opened in the late 1990s. There was a dramatic growth of shopping malls in the neighborhood, and they were generally more successful than similar enterprises in other parts of Cairo. One of the main reasons for the success of these commercial centers is the simple grid environment of Nasr City. The district has no town/city center and consists of long, wide streets, with roundabouts, and perpendicular streets. Nasr City has a variety of shops and leisure spaces including restaurants, coffee shops, and cinemas.

The malls are usually very crowded during holidays and summer nights, while the fast-food restaurants and coffee shops remain open and busy until late at night. Late night shopping is popular in Cairo, especially in summer, and thus the malls do not open until around 11am, and peak hours begin around 10pm. Also, each sub-district has its own market, or souq, where one can buy fresh fruit, vegetables, and slaughtered meat. The souq in the 8th district of Nasr City is located next to a gas station five minutes away by foot from the Sedeek Language School. It has a live poultry and livestock section, many fruit and vegetable stands, and a seafood section in the back. Many children of the stand owners work in the market, carrying people's purchases for them, or helping to stock the stands or watch the animals. The 10th district of Nasr City has the biggest market, with at least 3 butchers, 5-6 large fruit and vegetable stands, multiple clothing stores, and slightly crowded streets. The architecture and decoration of the newly built shopping malls of Nasr City are influenced greatly by building designs in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. The architecture of the Wonderland Mall is marked by its Oriental aspects while the design of the Geneina Mall, with its transparent glass elevators, resembles the design of Southeast Asian malls in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Some of the malls in Nasr City, like the Serag, and Geneina malls, have associate housing and apartments above the shopping spaces. Although these malls are in close proximity with to another, there is no strict competition between them as most cater to different types of customers. Tiba Outlet Mall, for instance, is regarded as a family mall, while the Geneina Mall is popular among teenagers and youngsters due to its bowling alley, billiard center, and discothèque. The Serag Mall is located in the 8th district of Nasr City, and it contains the al-Mahmal hypermarket, several clothing stores, and aquatic bumper cars in the main lobby for young children. There is also a restaurant, lamaelrawi, a cinema, and Multiple Shisha bars.