In smart cities, data production and usage plays a key role in the democratic debates about the future of the city. These data are increasingly made available in an open form to enable transparency, participation and collaboration between governments, stakeholders and citizens. However, so far, data is mainly used by a limited number of mostly businesses and tech-savvy groups of citizens. This is worrying since, as cities transition towards digital governance, uneven access to digital technology may exacerbate inequality. This project contributes to academic and societal debates about the role of open data inclusion in urban democracies by developing and testing an innovative living lab approach to examine how open data empowerment can foster democratic processes in smart cities. Our research took place in a vulnerable neighbourhood in Utrecht: Overvecht. Together with grassroots organisations residents aimed to develop a vision for the redevelopment of the centre of Utrecht Overvecht into a "place to be" for all residents, based on open data.