A ragged child may be an old city feature (6)
I believe the answer is:
urchin
'a ragged child' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'an old city feature' is the wordplay.
'an old city' becomes 'ur' (ancient city state).
'feature' becomes 'chin' (chin is a kind of feature).
'ur'+'chin'='URCHIN'
'may be' is the link.
(Other definitions for urchin that I've seen before include "Capital of Kenya" , "Ragged mischief-maker" , "Guttersnipe" , "Gamin" , "Poorly-dressed child" .)