Boston's diverse neighborhoods serve as a political and cultural organizing mechanism. The City of Boston's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 Neighborhoods in the city:
The islands in Boston Harbor are administered as part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.[1]
The Boston Redevelopment Authority,[2] the City Parking Clerk,[3] and the City's Department of Neighborhood Development[4] have also designated their own neighborhoods. Unofficially, Boston has many overlapping neighborhoods of various sizes. Neighborhood associations have formed around smaller communities or commercial districts (often with "Square" in the name) that have a well-defined center but poorly identified extremities.[citation needed]