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This issue of My Liveable City focuses on the theme of “Local Identity, not in the narrow sense of architectural character or regional aesthetic, but through deeper reflections on the potential of local demographics and people to shape their local future. “Local Identity” is a complex subject, a resilient blueprint on the one hand and an evolving societal signature on the other. How do we make space for these simultaneous trajectories? How do we stop the unapologetic erasure of indigenous ideas, patterns and wisdom in the name of modernity? How do we simultaneously accommodate aspirations for progress? How do we transform the idea of “local identity” from an intellectual preoccupation by a select few, to a pragmatic necessity that can benefit all? The articles in this issue examine some of these questions. They go from issues surrounding the widow community in South-Asia, to less-known indigenous tribes in Central America, and from technology in Indigenous communities in North America to housing for migrant workers in West Asia. They offer insights and propositions on how to renew, shape, reshape and even recast local identity within our complex urban context. Taken together, they seek to expand our understanding of what local identity can be, in a time when globalisation and cross-cultural fluidity is more pervasive than ever before.