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 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 latest 2011 iteration of this program assigns Hackney towards the 'East' sub-region, even though the 2008 and 2004 versions assigned the borough to 'North' and 'East' sub-regions respectively.
Hackney is bounded by Islington towards the west, Haringey towards the north, Waltham Forest towards the north-east, Newham towards the east, Tower Hamlets towards the south-east as well as the City of London towards 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 inhabitants. Much of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such locations as Dalston large 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; known as Hackney Central.
To the east is the large open space of Hackney Marshes and also the districts of Hackney Wick and Homerton. Light industries inside the area around the River Lea employ more than 3000 individuals. Some of the area was made use of for the 2012 Summer Olympics.