Elsie mad about old city finds freedom (7)
I believe the answer is:
leisure
'freedom' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'elsie mad about old city' is the wordplay.
'mad' indicates an anagram.
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'old city' becomes 'ur' (ancient city state).
'elsie' with letters rearranged gives 'leise'.
'leise' going around 'ur' is 'LEISURE'.
'finds' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for leisure that I've seen before include "Free time as for resting or play" , "Free-time" , "Free time; relaxation" , "Rest, relaxation" , "Time away from work" .)