Gamma ray observations have found evidence of an extremely energetic outflow emanating from the Galactic Centre, and an ‘excess’ of emission at GeV energies towards the Galactic Centre over that expected from current models. Determining whether the outflow is AGN- or star formation-driven, and whether the ‘excess’ is astrophysical in origin or requires new physics (e.g., self-annihilation of dark matter), requires the accurate modelling of the expected energy injection from astrophysical sources and the subsequent interaction with the surrounding environment. We briefly summarise current constraints on the distribution of gas and young stars in the inner few hundred parsecs of the Galaxy that can be included in future 2D and 3D modelling of the astrophysical gamma ray emission. The key points to highlight with respect to predominantly axisymmetric models currently in use are: (i) the distribution of dense gas, young stars and interstellar radiation field is highly asymmetric around the Galactic Centre; (ii) star formation is almost exclusively constrained to a Galactocentric radius of ∼100 pc; and (iii) the star formation rate in this region has been constant at ≲0.1 M⊙yr−1to within a factor of 2 over the last ∼5 Myr.