The article presents the French approach to smart cities. Unlike other countries (members of the European Union and other nations, such as the United States, India...) that prefer an approach that could be defined “interventionist”, in France there is currently no specific regulatory framework for smart cities, perhaps because local administration is undergoing an extensive reorganization and the role of inter-municipal structures and metropolitan areas (métropoles) is growing. The specificity of the French approach can be identified in the tendency to experiment permanently new forms of collaboration between the public and private sectors. This is certainly due to the centralized industrial fabric and the fact that large companies are holders of the majority of public contracts. Such companies are therefore privileged, long-time partners of local authorities and, on the latter’s behalf manage local public services. Two examples (Lyon and Issy-les-Moulineaux) and the success of their experiments seem to confirm this interpretation.