It is an inner-city development situated 5 miles (8 km) north east of Charing Cross. It is not especially close to Hackney Central, the historic centre of Hackney Borough (something that often confuses outsiders).

It is in the far east of the borough on the edge of the planned 2012 Olympic Park and near the boundary with the London Borough of Newham, the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Lee Navigation and the Hertford Union Canal come to a junction at Hackney Wick and it is at the southern tip of Hackney Marshes. The River Lee is nearby and it forms part of the Lower Lea Valley.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Wick was a thriving well-populated industrial zone, as the Hackney Wick first world war memorial in Victoria Park testifies (see picture right)?the lower part of the stele is densely inscribed on all four faces with the names of Wick men who died in that conflict.

The world’s first true synthetic plastic, parkesine, invented by Alexander Parkes, was manufactured here from 1866 to 1868, though sadly, Parkes’ company failed due to high production costs - he was simply too far ahead of his time.

In recent post-industrial times, Hackney Wick has lost most of its industry and much of its population. Its greyhound stadium, well-known throughout the East End, has been long closed, even for car boot sales.

There are signs of revival, though. Not only will the area, hopefully, benefit from the planned 2012 Olympics, but London’s artistic community, increasingly forced out of the old warehousing and industrial zones to the south of Hackney borough and in Tower Hamlets by rising rents, are taking an interest in the more affordable industrial buildings out at the Wick. Odd as it may seem now, perhaps by 2012 it may already be regarded as the new Hoxton.

Hackney Wick is a local transport hub with several bus routes terminating next to Hackney Wick railway station. Both the Number 30 bus, involved in the 7 July 2005 London bombings, and the Number 26 bus, involved in the 21 July 2005 London bombings were headed to Hackney Wick.