Updated

The Italian cities of Milan and Turin have been hard hit by smog in recent days, with officials reporting spikes in the concentration of fine particulate matter in the air and pressing for more measures to curb emissions.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has proposed a "drastic" shift to electric public transport, bikes and car-sharing to reduce emissions in Italy's business and fashion capital. Sala participated in a Paris meeting this week of mayors who pledged to ban gasoline and diesel vehicles from "large parts" of their cities by 2030.

In Turin, the regional environmental protection agency on Wednesday registered levels of fine particulate matter in the air above 100 micrograms per cubic meter, on par with annual averages of some of the world's most polluted cities.