About Hackney: the borough's history and geography

About Hackney - The Geography of Hackney

Size and location

The London Borough of Hackney has an area of 1,898 hectares (18.98 square kilometres), making it one of the smallest London boroughs; only Hammersmith & Fulham, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, and the City are smaller.

Hackney is one of 14 Inner London boroughs and is located in the north-east of the city. The southern tip of Hackney is just under a mile north of the River Thames. Hackney is one of the 33 boroughs making up Greater London and its direct neighbours are the City, Islington, Haringey, Waltham Forest, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

Map of Hackney and its surrounding London boroughs

Wards

A ward is an electoral district used in local politics. Wards are usually named after thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and, in some cases, historical figures connected to the area. Each ward in Hackney is represented by three councillors: overall, the borough currently has a Labour majority. Find your local councillors

Hackney's nineteen electoral wards

Hackney's ward boundaries were redrawn in 2002: Hackney now has 19 wards (prior to 2002 there had been 23). The largest of the new wards are King's Park (181.3 hectares), Wick (162.2 hectares), Haggerston (123.9 hectares) and Lordship (118.5 hectares). The smallest are Cazenove (68 hectares), Clissold (69.9 hectares), Stoke Newington Central (70.9 hectares) and Hackney Central (77.9 hectares).

Hackney ward sizes in hectares

WardHectareWardHectare
Brownswood83.7King's Park181.3
Cazenove68.0Leabridge106.1
Chatham90.4Lordship118.5
Clissold69.9New River97.5
Dalston92.5Queensbridge107.3
De Beauvoir88.5Springfield95.0
Hackney Central77.9Stoke Newington Central70.9
Hackney Downs101.5Victoria79.9
Haggerston123.9Wick162.2
Hoxton83.6  

Neighbourhoods

The council has used combinations of its wards to divide the borough into 4 geographical areas. The councillors for these wards form bodies known as Neighbourhood Committees or Neighbourhood Forums. They meet quarterly at different venues and look at issues relating to the residents within the wards to which the Committee or Forum relates. They are the council's main consultation arrangements and are intended to assist in improving service delivery and providing more efficient, transparent and accountable decision-making. Find out more

Hackney's four corporate neighbourhood areas

Composition of Hackney's neighbourhoods

NeighbourhoodConstituent wards
Stoke Newington ForumBrownswood
 Clissold
 Dalston
 Lordship
 Stoke Newington Central
North East NeighbourhoodCazenove
CommitteeHackney Downs
 Leabridge
 New River
 Springfield
Homerton ForumChatham
 Hackney Central
 King's Park
 Victoria
 Wick
Shoreditch NeighbourhoodDe Beauvoir
CommitteeHaggerston
 Hoxton
 Queensbridge

Parliamentary Constituencies

A parliamentary constituency is an area from which voters in a general election are drawn. The voters elect a Member of Parliament for their constituency. Hackney has 2 parliamentary constituencies: Hackney North and Stoke Newington, and Hackney South and Shoreditch. Both of these seats are currently held by Labour. The minimum age for all levels of voting at UK public elections is 18 years.

Hackney's two parliamentary constituencies

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Page updated: 28 Feb 2007 



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