Senator David Norris is Joycean scholar, academic, politician and champion of all things cultural. Read what city he likes best and why.

As part of Inspiring Cities Dublin Week, in the week that leads up to Bloomsday - perhaps Dublin's most special cultural day - we asked Senator David Norris, Joycean scholar, academic, politician and champion of all things cultural to respond to our 8Q Culture and Cities interview.  Senator Norris kindly prepared some answers for us and we report them below.  Senator Norris is well known for his enthusiasm and energy in promoting the importance of the works of James Joyce to Dublin City.  He has also campaigned vigorously for the preservation of Dublin's architectural heritage, in particular it's rich Georgian building fabric.     He lists his current concerns as human rights, foreign policy, immigration and assylum, the European Union and the development of urban rail in Dublin.

1 –       Which city do you see as the nicest/best city that you know? What are its most important aspects that make it so good?
 
I have three candidates for this, Paris, Jerusalem and Rio. (I take it my choice is apart from my natural choice of my home city of Dublin). Paris I choose because of its architectural beauty, elegant bridges across the Seine, the glories of Notre Dame, the magnificent feeling of proper urban planning in the grand boulevards around l'Etoile. A sense of creative energy on the left bank as well as the superb music of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky. On top of that of course they have a marvellous metro.

My second would be Jerusalem because of the magic of the old city and that wonderful combination of colour, sound, sight and smell that gives the souk its indefinable quality as well as the Jewish suburbs with their marvellous mix of cultural background.

And my last choice is Rio de Janeiro with its sensual and alluring and magical of all cities. Its wonderful beaches, Corcovado, the sense of powerful untamed nature just beyond the city limits.
 
2 –       What are the most important aspects to dislike in a city? Is there a city or place that you dislike for any particular reason. 
 
What I dislike in a city are pollution, litter, anti social behaviour, loutishness and traffic jams.
 
3 –       Can a city or city life make you happy? In what sense?
 
Of course the city can make me happy. Access to a multiplicity of experiences, theatre, restaurants, shops, cinemas, sporting facilities, galleries, museums, it’s the sheer range of choice and accessibility.
 
4 –       What metaphor, quote, painting, or film scene best describes your idea about the relation between cities and culture?
 
I think immediately of last year's film, “the Tiger’s Tail”, which starred I think Brendan Gleeson and was about a Dublin property developer and his doppleganger.
 
5 –        What is the importance of living or working in a city relating to your own profession / lifestyle?
 
The importance for me of living in Dublin is that I am bang in the centre of political activity and can easily contact fellow members of the Oireachtas, my constituents, various ministries etc. On top of that I live in North Great Georges Street just behind O'Connell Street in an elegant 18th century street that was snatched from the jaws of destruction over the last thirty years or so and that puts everything within walking distance.
 
6 –       What is the most important change or challenge that cities will face in the coming decades?
 
The most important challenge is a paradoxical combination of over crowding and loneliness.
 
7 –       What is the best thing you remember that happened in the last 12 months to a city?
 
The best thing in Dublin has been the commitment to building an underground railway for the city and the opening of the city quays to the enjoyment of pedestrians.
 
8 –       What idea, thinker or movement, if any, do you think will be very influential in shaping cities and the way people live together in the future?
 
The green and environmental movement.