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 part of east London, with northern and western areas considered 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, even 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 towards the north-east, Newham towards the east, Tower Hamlets towards the south-east as well as the City of London to the south-west. It covers a total area of 7.36 square miles. As outlined by population estimates from 2014, the borough has a permanent population of about 263150 inhabitants. A great deal 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 around the Church of St John-at-Hackney; generally known as Hackney Central.
Towards the east is the large open space of Hackney Marshes as well as the districts of Hackney Wick and Homerton. Light industries in the area surrounding the River Lea employ more than 3000 individuals. Some of the area was employed for the 2012 Summer Olympics.