This paper extends the work by Vora (2013) and others that have interrogated national and non-national divides by examining geographic differences between Emirates and generational differences between younger and older adults within the same family and community. It asks the following research questions: How do citizens and noncitizens navigate their changing relationships with the state and society in order to construct belonging? How does the construction of belonging vary across generation and geography? It examines belonging through two crosscutting forms of communities: (1) local communities, which examine how respondents relate to their geographically defined neighborhood (Parsons 1969, 1989; National Academies of Sciences 2021). (2) the national political community (UAE) based on Benedict Anderson’s imagined community, which is a nation as a socially constructed community imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of a group. Thus, belonging is defined as perceived membership - formal or informal - to a neighborhood or imagined national community. The study draws on qualitative analysis of around 75 in-depth interviews conducted between November 2023 and February 2024. It employs innovative participatory methods in which we empower and train young adult students to become researchers within their own communities and to have intergenerational conversations about the complexities of belonging within their social circles and collaborate on the findings. Both Emirati nationals and expatriates from diverse national backgrounds were asked to recruit participants from three generational categories roughly corresponding to the youth, their parents, and their grandparent’s generations. The study also captures the experiences of residents in the understudied Northern Emirates. During the interviews, respondents discussed when and how they experienced belonging, recalling experiences of inclusion and exclusion, and their attachment to the state (nationalism and patriotism). Based on preliminary analysis, we observe that while current national policies appear to pit national and non-national youths against each other in pursuit of scarce jobs and other state benefits, both groups have formed a meaningful attachment to the state driven by shared experiences. Finally, the use of belonging as a shared construct for understanding both nationals and non-nationals should not be taken as an argument for the existence of comprehensive social harmony in the UAE. Indeed, policy and social changes are likely to continue to occasion intragroup frictions amid increasing competition for resources. However, findings indicate the potential of the country’s social fabric to absorb these shocks through creating a strong and inclusive national identity.