The London Borough of Hackney is a north east London Borough within Inner London in the UK. Southern and eastern parts of the borough are popularly, but unofficially, regarded as being part of east London, with northern and western areas deemed 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 most recent 2011 iteration of this program assigns Hackney to the 'East' sub-region, whilst 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 towards the north-east, Newham to the east, Tower Hamlets to the south-east as well as the City of London to the south-west. It covers a total area of 7.36 square miles. According to population estimates from 2014, the borough includes a permanent population of around 263150 people. Much of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such locations 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 surrounding the Church of St John-at-Hackney; called Hackney Central.
Towards the east is the big open space of Hackney Marshes and the districts of Hackney Wick and Homerton. Light industries in the space around the River Lea employ over 3000 personnel. Some of the area was utilised for the 2012 Summer Olympics.