Following English and German in the metropolis to show productiveness (9)

I believe the answer is:

fecundity

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'show productiveness' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'following english and german in the metropolis' is the wordplay.
'following' becomes 'f' (used when citing page numbers etc).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation as in OED).
'and german' becomes 'und' ('and' in German).
'in the' is an insertion indicator.
'metropolis' becomes 'city' (a metropolis is a large city).
'und' going into 'city' is 'cundity'.
'f'+'e'+'cundity'='FECUNDITY'

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for fecundity that I've seen is " Fruitfulness".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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