We report on growth and physical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) films on model conducting oxide underlayers (Nb-doped SrTiO3 and RuO2 buffered TiO2 single crystals). The VO2 films, synthesized by rf sputtering, are highly textured as seen from X-ray diffraction. The VO2 film grown on Nb doped SrTiO3 shows over two orders of magnitude metal-insulator transition, while VO2 film on RuO2 buffered TiO2 shows a smaller resistance change but with an interesting two step transition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been performed as a function of depth on both sets of structures to provide mechanistic understanding of the transition characteristics. we then investigate voltage-driven transition in the VO2 films grown on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrate as a function of temperature. The present study contributes to efforts towards correlated oxide electronics utilizing phase transitions. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.