Does contributive innovation strengthen citizen power in the digital city?

This article stems from a study on the first edition of the Grenoble CivicLab (GCL), an open innovation competition calling on residents to “propose digital tools that will support behavioural changes and shape the city of tomorrow”. The competition, which invited candidates to respond to the challenges of the Grenoble metropolitan area with digital services, was aligned from the outset with the horizon of the so-called “smart” city. This type of framework constitutes a laboratory to study the new ways in which local authorities involve inhabitants in crafting the city, and to understand their inner workings and their effects on public policy.