Limit set by a developed place for what a ground can hold (8)
I believe the answer is:
capacity
'what a ground can hold' is the definition.
(eg the capacity of a football ground)
'limit set by a developed place' is the wordplay.
'limit' becomes 'cap' (capping is a kind of limiting).
'set by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'developed place' becomes 'city' (developed settlement).
'cap'+'a'+'city'='CAPACITY'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for capacity that I've seen before include "how much can one take?" , "Space -- role" , "The amount that can be contained, space" , "Ability to contain or accommadate" , "The amount that something can hold" .)