The London Borough of Hackney is a north east London Borough inside Inner London in the United Kingdom. Southern and eastern parts of the borough are popularly, but unofficially, regarded as being a part of east London, with northern and western locations regarded to belong to north London. The London Plan, issued by the Greater London Authority, assigns entire boroughs to sub-regions for statutory monitoring, engagement and resource allocation purposes. The latest 2011 iteration of this plan assigns Hackney to the 'East' sub-region, though the 2008 and 2004 versions assigned the borough to 'North' and 'East' sub-regions respectively.
Hackney is bounded by Islington to the west, Haringey to the north, Waltham Forest to the north-east, Newham to the east, Tower Hamlets towards the south-east and the City of London to the south-west. It covers a total area of 7.36 square miles. In accordance with population estimates from 2014, the borough includes a permanent population of about 263150 inhabitants. Much of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such places as Dalston big housing estates have been joined by newly developed gated communities. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is the area roughly extending north from Mare Street and around the Church of St John-at-Hackney; generally known as Hackney Central.
To the east is the large open space of Hackney Marshes plus the districts of Hackney Wick and Homerton. Light industries inside the area around the River Lea employ more than 3000 staff. Some of the area was utilised for the 2012 Summer Olympics.