Dalston (ˈdɔːlstən) is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas including Kingsland and Shacklewell, all three of which being part of the Ancient Parish of Hackney.
The area has experienced a high degree of gentrification in recent years, a process accelerated by the East London line extension, now part of London Overground, and the reopening of Dalston Junction railway station, part of London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
Dalston has never been an administrative unit, and partly for this reason the boundaries are not formally defined. There are generally understood boundaries in the south and west, but less clarity to the north and east. There is an electoral ward of the same name which covers a part of the northwest of Dalston.
Dalston's boundaries (taking in Kingsland and Shacklewell, but not De Beauvoir Town, which is also sometimes associated with Dalston) are described with more or less precision below:
South: Dalston takes Hackney's southern border with Shoreditch. Albion Drive forms much of this boundary.
West: The originally Roman A10 road (under the names, south to north: Kingsland Road, Kingsland High St, Stoke Newington Road) is widely understood as Dalston's western margin. The exception is that both sides of Kingsland High St are included – here Dalston takes Hackney's western boundary as it crosses the A10 to take in a small area bounded by Boleyn Road and the Crossway, to include Dalston Kingsland Railway Station. The western boundary corresponds with the western side of the E8 postal area with which Dalston is associated, though postcodes are not intended to define districts, and the postal area also takes in areas that are not ever described as part of Dalston.
North: There is not a tradition of a clear northern boundary with West Hackney.