Hackney
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 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 whole 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, although the 2008 and 2004 versions assigned the borough to 'North' and 'East' sub-regions respectively.
Hackney is bounded by Islington to the west, Haringey towards the north, Waltham Forest towards the north-east, Newham towards the east, Tower Hamlets towards the south-east along with the City of London towards the south-west. It covers a total area of 7.36 square miles. Based on population estimates from 2014, the borough includes a permanent population of around 263150 inhabitants. A great deal of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such places as Dalston large housing estates have been joined by newly created 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; generally known as Hackney Central.
Towards the north of the borough are Upper Clapton and Lower Clapton, Stamford Hill and Stoke Newington. Light industries in the space around the River Lea employ more than 3000 individuals. Some of the area was utilised for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
