GAVIN CORBETT, 43, is head of policy with Shelter and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Parent Council Network
1 What is your earliest memory of Edinburgh? Before I came to live here I was a regular visitor to my relatives: my uncle's medical practice was at the edge of the Botanic Gardens, so I remember the smell of the gardens after rain.
2 What are your memories of school? I was at Greenmill Primary School in Cumnock right at the peak of the baby boom so my memory is of the building crammed with children. Years later I was a janitor at the school and relished unlocking all the places which were forbidden to children.
3 Where is your favourite place in Edinburgh and why? The top of Arthur's Seat on a sunny winter day with my family: there is hardly a part of Edinburgh you can't see from there, warts and all.
4 What are the best things about Edinburgh? It is small enough to walk almost everywhere but large enough to be vibrant and outward-looking.
5 What would you change about the city? There is a very conservative establishment in the city which is partly perpetuated by the unusually high level of private schooling. I think it holds the city back.
6 Describe a perfect Edinburgh day/night out. A walk across the Pentlands with my children, dropping down to Hillend for hot chocolate and the number 4 bus home to tea in the garden (weather permitting).
7 Which sports interest you? I am an avid cyclist and hill-walker. I go to Tynecastle now and again to watch Hearts, usually when Kilmarnock come to visit.
8 What was your most embarrassing moment? I am too old to get embarrassed about much nowadays. But my young sons always help me out. Upstairs on a bus one day my six-year-old, Ben, spotted a huge shaven-headed man, with the archetypal "Hate" tattoos liberally applied. "Look dad", he yelled, "there's a man that's as bald as you!" Fear was my first reaction; embarrassment later.
9 What is your greatest achievement? Chairing the Election Committee for the Greens in 1999 and 2003 and watching, first, Robin Harper get elected and, then another six Green MSPs.
10 Sum up Edinburgh in three words. Compact, cosmopolitan, classic.
