A specialised GPS app puts accessibility at users’ fingertips, guiding them through the city with real-time obstacle alerts and personalised routing.
David Lisnard doesn’t believe in half-measures. When the mayor of Cannes commits to making his city accessible, he backs it up with innovation that changes daily life. On 29 August, Cannes became the first municipality in the Alpes-Maritimes to deploy StreetNav, a user-friendly navigation app for persons with reduced mobility and visual impairments, but also those struggling with strollers, bulky suitcases, or unwieldy cargo. It also helps senior citizens to be better prepared for potential pitfalls.
Together with Arthur Alba, founder and CEO of StreetCo., the company behind StreetNav, mayor Lisnard officially launched this free GPS solution for Cannes, thus joining twenty other cities already in the app’s network.
More Than GPS: A Personal Navigation Assistant
StreetNav creates personalized routes based on individual needs and also considers pavement conditions, gradients, stairs, lowered curbs, and other factors that traditional GPS systems ignore.
Real-time obstacle reporting sets StreetNav apart. Users receive instant alerts about construction zones, blocked sidewalks, or temporarily inaccessible areas. Clear audio guidance ensures persons with visual impairments can navigate confidently through busy streets.
The app also maps Cannes’ accessible infrastructure: 633 designated parking spaces for persons with reduced mobility, 334 audio-equipped pedestrian crossings, as well as public restrooms, benches, and adapted sports areas like Handiplage. Its innovative approach earned a Silver Lion in the “Creative Data” category at Cannes Lions 2025, underlining its potential to shape accessibility solutions worldwide.
Personal Experience Drives Innovation
The app stems from personal necessity. After a mobility injury early in his career, Arthur Alba struggled with the streets of Paris, cluttered with shared mobility devices, ongoing construction, and charming but impractical cobblestones. His search for navigation assistance revealed a surprising void in the market.
While GPS solutions existed for cyclists, drivers, and hikers, nothing addressed the specific needs of people with mobility challenges. This gap inspired Alba to launch StreetCo and develop what he calls “the Waze for people with reduced mobility” – a navigation tool that understands the unique obstacles facing users with different mobility needs.
“StreetNav was born from a simple conviction: everyone should be able to move freely, without obstacles or compromise, regardless of their mobility,” explains Arthur Alba. “Beyond a GPS, our technology is a tool for dignity and social connection.”
Over 90 percent of Cannes’ streets have already been mapped by “ambassadors” – students, retirees, and association volunteers who use the companion StreetCo app to report obstacles and share geolocated photos, creating a living map that reflects real conditions. When they spot something problematic like a pole, construction zone, or steep incline, they photograph it, mark the street side, and categorize the obstacle type.
Users then decide for themselves whether to avoid each obstacle. “We don’t know your mobility as well as you do, and we have users whose mobility changes daily,” Alba explains. “The user decides, based on the photo and obstacle type, whether they want to avoid it or not.”
Integration with Cannes’ existing “Cannes Civique” app means residents can report public space or even security issues that feed directly into the accessibility database, creating a comprehensive network where community awareness translates into navigation improvements.
The interface adapts to motor, visual, and cognitive disabilities. The team works with cognitive disability experts to offer an FALC (easy-to-read and understand) version that also benefits seniors. For persons with visual impairments, the app provides proximity alerts so users can navigate obstacles safely.
Early Cannes testers praise the app’s practical benefits. James, a wheelchair user, calls it “truly essential” and finds the interface engaging. “It’s an important project for people’s autonomy. Clearly, any of us could find ourselves with mobility challenges tomorrow.”
Christophe from the Alternative Citizen Association Movement appreciates the freedom it provides: “Thank you for making us free and autonomous. In some streets, beyond our bodies wearing out, it’s our equipment that gets damaged.”
Development does not have to stop at cities. Complex structures such as train stations, airports, or even Cannes’ very own Palais des Festivals could also be mapped for the app, Alba suggests. Music to the ears of Cannes’ technophile mayor…
A Decade of Transformation
This launch builds further on Cannes’ impressive accessibility track record. Since taking office in 2014, mayor Lisnard has systematically transformed his city’s urban landscape with accessibility as a core design principle.
“In Cannes, we’re deeply committed to building a city where everyone belongs and feels fully included, with equal rights, freedoms, and opportunities,” says David Lisnard. “Serving the needs of persons with disabilities is an absolute priority for me and an ongoing focus for the municipality.”
For Lisnard, the introduction of StreetNav embodies the kind of forward-thinking governance that defines modern civic leadership: identifying real problems, designing practical solutions, and implementing them systematically. It is this methodical approach to inclusion that has transformed Cannes from a festival destination into a model for what French cities can achieve when accessibility becomes policy, not an afterthought. When other political leaders often loudly promise change, Lisnard quietly delivers it, one sidewalk at a time.
Download StreetNav App for your device
All images courtesy Mairie de Cannes and StreetCo / StreetNav; lead image © Mairie de Cannes
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