As our cities choke, the car is finally reaching the end of the road

In 1989, a group of Chinese government urban planners came to Europe on a fact-finding mission.

- John Vidal

They were praised for curbing car use – the country of 1 billion people had just a few million vehicles; the bicycle was king; its city streets were safe and the air mostly clean. How did they manage to have so few cars , asked their hosts, grappling with chaotic British streets, traffic jams and pollution. “But you don’t understand,” replied one of the delegation. “In 20 years, there will be no bicycles in China.”

He was nearly right. China’s breakneck development has been led by mass car ownership. It now has 300 m cars – and what was once the kingdom of bikes is now the land of 20-lane motorways, more than 100,000 petrol stations and scrap metal yards. Many cities are choked with traffic, their air is some of the worst in the world, and their hospitals are full of children with asthma and respiratory diseases. China, like every other country, is having to rethink the car.