Chembur has its own Harbour Line railway station and sits at a multi-modal interchange: Mumbai Monorail Line 1 (Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle) meets the new Mumbai Metro Line 2B Chembur stop, built barely 100m apart. Eastern Express Highway, Eastern Freeway, Santacruz-Chembur Link Road and a BKC elevated connector give fast road access, placing BKC about 7km away.

BEST and NMMT buses, autos and cabs cover last-mile trips across the eastern suburbs and towards Navi Mumbai.

Chembur hosts the main campus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) at Deonar, alongside well-regarded schools such as St. Gregorios High School, Loreto Convent School, Ryan International School and Jawahar Vidya Bhawan High School.

Colleges in and around the suburb include N.G. Acharya & D.K.

Marathe College of Arts, Science & Commerce and Shah & Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College, giving residents a wide spread of K-12 and higher-education options close to home.

Chembur developed around heavy industry that still operates in adjoining Trombay: BPCL and HPCL oil refineries, the Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) plant, Tata Power's Trombay thermal station, and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Alongside this industrial legacy, the suburb has added corporate offices and business parks, positioning it as a comparatively affordable office location within reach of BKC.

Chembur's best-known leisure landmark is the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, established in 1927 on reclaimed land and among Mumbai's oldest golf courses. Diamond Garden is the suburb's most prominent public garden and gathering spot, and the basalt Trombay hills to the south add rare topographic relief within the eastern suburbs.

Chembur is not part of Mumbai's mainstream tourist circuit, but these spots see steady local footfall.

K Star Mall and Cubic Mall anchor Chembur's shopping and multiplex scene, supplemented by eateries around Diamond Garden, Chembur Naka and Central Avenue. Diamond Garden also serves as a popular public leisure spot for residents.

The suburb was once home to Raj Kapoor's R.K. Films studio, a mid-20th-century Bollywood landmark whose site has since been redeveloped.

Civic and transport upgrades are underway.

Older housing stock and slum clusters are being taken up for redevelopment under MHADA/SRA schemes, alongside continuing road, flyover and stormwater-drain upgrades on arterial stretches such as the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.