Grenoble, the capital of the Isère department in southeastern France and home to approximately 450,000 inhabitants (metropolitan region) is renowned for its rich history of progressive politics, driven by both grassroots movements and the local government — most notably under the socialist mayorship of Hubert Dubedout between 1965 and 1983. Governed since 2014 by a left-green-citizen coalition, Grenoble is part of a wave of cities that emphasize social and environmental justice and greater citizen participation (e.g. within the network of the Fearless Cities). Many past, ongoing and future innovations — such as the implementation of the Doughnut model into administrative procedures or the banning of advertising billboards in public places — resonate with post-growth ideas and principles.

At the same time, the new majority has had to cope with declining state subsidies and debt, which led it to significantly increase the local property tax and to adopt structural policies to reshape public services and prioritize investments. These contested budgetary choices aimed to promote a just ecological transition, exemplified by measures such as solidarity-based pricing for public transport and support for a local initiative of a food social security system (sécurité sociale de l’alimentation). Furthermore, even though the municipality has centered citizen participation in multiple projects, it has also faced opposition from an active local community which criticizes the lack of real power devolution behind those participatory processes. These ambivalences and tensions make the municipality of Grenoble a valuable case for studying the levers and room for manoeuvre available to local governments in a context of crisis and severe austerity.