The London Borough of Hackney is a north east London Borough inside 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 latest 2011 iteration of this strategy assigns Hackney towards 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 towards the north, Waltham Forest towards the north-east, Newham to the east, Tower Hamlets towards the south-east plus the City of London towards the south-west. It covers a total area of 7.36 square miles. As outlined by population estimates from 2014, the borough features a permanent population of around 263150 individuals. Much of Hackney retains an inner-city character, but in such areas 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 surrounding the Church of St John-at-Hackney; referred to as Hackney Central.
Towards the east is the big open space of Hackney Marshes as well as the districts of Hackney Wick and Homerton. Light industries within the area surrounding the River Lea employ more than 3000 staff. Some of the area was utilised for the 2012 Summer Olympics.