The desire to own and drive your own car used to be a life-defining characteristic for young Brits – but its importance is fading. And it’s the same case in other countries too, from the US and Germany to Japan and Australia. But why? And how is the car industry responding?

About 40% of Hamburg's 1.8 million residents don’t own a car, so IKEA has introduced its first ‘citystore’ – an urban little sister to its sprawling, out-of-town counterparts. It’s already more popular than any other German branch, but who is this inner-city store attracting?

The number of people living in cities is increasing, but the number of young urban drivers is falling. These are the same urbanites that IKEA has been targeting with the PS Collection Instagram campaign, and now the brand is meeting them on their own turf: the city centre.

France’s transport ministry has announced a new initiative to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes. Employers have pledged to pay their staff 25 cents for every kilometre spent commuting on two wheels. But do financial incentives actually change behaviour?