Help to preserve mass transport in thriving area (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
boom town
'thriving area' is the definition.
'boom town' can be an answer for 'area' (boom town is a kind of area). I am unsure of the 'thriving' bit.
'help to preserve mass transport' is the wordplay.
'help' becomes 'boon' (a boon is a help or benefit).
'to preserve' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'mass' becomes 'm' (symbol used in Physics e.g. f=ma).
'transport' becomes 'tow' (to tow something is to transport it).
'm'+'tow'='mtow'
'boon' placed around 'mtow' is 'BOOM TOWN'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for boom town that I've seen before include "Urban area of rapid growth" , "Municipality enjoying sudden prosperity" , "Prosperous place" , "Place of sudden prosperity" , "Settlement enjoying sudden prosperity" .)