self-sufficient (March and Ribera-Fumaz, 2016). Barcelona of new policies. The following examples perfectly illustrate expected to be an innovative city, favoring citizens, creating the citizen-driven nature of these innovation policies. First, business communities, and offering public spaces (physical there is the implementation of Barcelona a la butxaca or digital). This urban transformation project relied on a long- (Barcelona InYourPocket) (https://www.inyourpocket.com/ term and ambitious vision (https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ barcelona/features), a program promoting the development digital/en/about-us). of mobile-supported apps and services. Second, municipal fab labs have been designed as places where people can A city attempting to design an action plan to tackle learn and collaborate. They form part of the city’s social local challenges development because they are conceived as a public service focused on technology and digital activities (https:// At a local level in all cities, many specific attributes count. ajuntament.barcelona.cat/digital/en/digital-empowerment/ In the context of booming international competition digital-education-and-training/fab-labs ; https://iaac. between cities, each must develop a long-term vision. net/fab-labs/fab-labs-bcn/). For many scholars (Gascó- The vision for each must guarantee resources (physical, Hernandez, 2018; March and Ribera-Fumaz, 2018), this financial, and human), secure a fair redistribution among innovation environment is one of the reasons why Barcelona people, and run welfare policies. Vision relies on relevant won the European Capital of Innovation Award in 2014 urban planning and the city’s capacity to develop solutions (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ to environmental challenges. However, each city is singular IP_14_239). and cannot rely on a single template. In Barcelona, the city executives have developed a transformational city vision to The policy of engaging citizens also means enhancing try to embrace all areas and parts of the city. After 2013- transparency through managing the city in a more open 14, the starting point focused on data and ICT, thanks to way, implementing more inclusive methods, and favoring the digital and mobile orientation of Barcelona (Bibri and participation. Barcelona seems to be prioritizing engagement Krogstie, 2020; Carrasco et al., 2017). Then, since 2018, with upstream citizens in the definition of city programs. It the smart city strategy has enlarged the vision of the city, is making them participate in programs’ design, execution, putting at its core citizen participation and an open-data and subsequent evaluation. In Barcelona, smart governance policy. This second step of the approach has involved the appears to be more about citizen engagement rather than launch of twenty-two programs (Ferrer, 2017; https:// simple citizen participation (Calzada, 2016; Smith and Martín, ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/22barcelona/ 2021). ca/).It includes different initiatives, projects, and strategies, and it pays attention to engaging all types of Building a sustainable ecosystem stakeholders. At a global level, Barcelona competes to attract capital flows, Engaging citizens in the process investments, talent, and so forth (Barcelona & Catalunya, 2017).4Competition across cities is also about quality of life, Ferrer (2017) suggests that the premise “no smart city leisure activities, and lifestyle offered to citizens. Therefore, without smart citizens” might be a fitting motto for the different types of collaboration (public-public, public- Barcelona. Compared to other cities (Mora, Deakin and private, and tripartite with civic organizations) have been Reid, 2019; Noori, Hoppe and de Jong, 2020), Barcelona has strengthened. Barcelona has set up new standards to started an impressive urban transformation: the first move attract and encourage industrial players to invest in the was focused on ICT, while the second was a much more development of innovative services, goods, and products society-focused program (March and Ribera-Fumaz, 2016 & that can gain critical mass. As an instrument, spaces fully 2018). The city envisioned that citizens could play a growing dedicated to innovation (for example, urban innovation labs key role in the development of Barcelona. Many specific and fab labs), aimed at testing urban solutions, are critical. programs have been developed to encourage the adoption These innovation labs also represent a way to engage (4) The Financial Times publication fDi Magazine has recognized Catalonia as the most attractive region in Southern Europe in terms of foreign investment for 2020 and 2021. http://catalonia.com/catalonia-barcelona/catalonia-barcelona/a-top-region-for-fdi.jsp (accessed on 14 July 2021). 84 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021