... characteristic of city pal needing reform (7)
I believe the answer is:
typical
'characteristic' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'city pal needing reform' is the wordplay.
'needing reform' indicates anagramming the letters.
'city'+'pal'='citypal'
'citypal' anagrammed gives 'TYPICAL'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for typical that I've seen before include "Representative or quintessential" , "Archetypal" , "Average" , "Characteristic of a particular person or thing" , "Representitive, quintessential" .)