Paris is famous for its honey-toned architecture, wide leafy boulevardsA wide street in a city or town. and high fashion. But the City of Light is fast gaining a new, less glowing nickname - the City of SmogA kind of toxic fog caused by high levels of air pollution..¹ For decades its roads have been clogged up with cars and motorbikes, spewing pollutionWhen harmful or dangerous things are put into the environment. into the air.

Now SUVsSports Utility Vehicles. A type of car that sits high off the ground and can drive off-road. are taking over the roads. Officials say the number has increased by 60% in the last four years.² Local politician Frederic Badina-Serpette calls this trend "autobesity".

SUVs are environmentally damaging. The annual CO2Carbon dioxide. emissions from the world's SUVs are bigger than those of the UK and Germany combined. Paris authorities plan to bring SUV numbers down by imposing higher parking fees.

The news from Paris is part of a changing attitude towards cars. Every day millions of people use them without much thought. We drive them to school, to work, to the shops, to the train station, even for the pleasure of driving itself. Learning to drive is a rite of passageA ceremony or event that signifies an important stage in someone's life. . Most modern cities are built for car-drivers, with wide roads, parking spaces and amenities spaced out at a drivable distance.

Yet experts now believe we have been living in error. Cars are monstrous polluters, emitting seven billion tonnes of CO2 each year, damaging both our health and the environment. They are also safety hazards: over 1.35 million people a year die in car accidents. As journalist George Monbiot opines: "Cars are killing us."

Many environmentalists believe that car use should be restricted. City governments have begun to put their ideas into practice. Many have blocked off roads to create low traffic neighbourhoods. Some aim to become 15-minute cities, where all essential services and needs are within a quarter-hour walk of every resident.

London has the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which has reduced the number of polluting vehicles in the centre by 60%. Drivers must pay each day they use a vehicle.³ From late August ULEZ will spread across the entire city. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan argues it is important to clean the air and stop people "breathing in poison".⁴

Anti-car campaigners hope that driving is the new smoking. Cigarettes were once seen as fashionable, even healthy. In 1965, 42.4% of adult Americans smoked. But as new evidence emerged about their dangers, people turned away. By 2018 only 13.7% smoked. Smoking might well become extinct. Could the same happen to cars?

Not everyone thinks that halting car use is necessary or desirable. ULEZ has been attacked by drivers due to the impact it will have on their livelihoods. Some jobs rely on motor vehicles more than others. To penalise them seems unfair.

Earlier this year, thousands gathered in Oxford to protest the city's plans towards a 15-minute city. Conservative MP Nick Fletcher claimed that the scheme "will take away your personal freedom" by trying to keep you in one place.

Many have dismissed this as a conspiracy theoryAn explanation for a phenomenon that centres around the actions of sinister, shadowy groups, where an absence of evidence can be interpreted as evidence of its truth. . But others say there might be a kernel of truth in the idea that reducing car use will make our worlds smaller and more restricted.

Yes: Society changes at a rapid pace. Smoking was once fashionable, but now many countries force smokers to shiver outside. Gas-guzzling, smog-shovelling cars could soon be replaced by something greener.

No: Cars are not the new tobacco. They are even worse. They define how our cities are built, how we move in the world and the type of work we do. Kicking the vehicle habit will be much, much harder.

Or... The current crop of gas-emitting cars has to go. But electric vehicles, which produce far fewer emissions than their cousin, might offer a way forward for those who want to keep driving.