Crossword Genius

City is but a shell of London, after redevelopment (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

istanbul

'city' is the definition.
(Istanbul is an example)

'is but a shell of london after redevelopment' is the wordplay.
'shell of' means to remove the middle letters.
'after redevelopment' indicates anagramming the letters.
'london' with its centre removed is 'ln'.
'but'+'a'+'ln'='butaln'
'butaln' with letters rearranged gives 'tanbul'.
'is'+'tanbul'='ISTANBUL'

(Other definitions for istanbul that I've seen before include "Turkish port city" , "Catch the Latin bus out to Turkey" , "Former capital of Turkey, once Constantinople" , "Modern name of Constantinople" , "City in both Europe and Asia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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