Man had a pile renovated in city (12)
I believe the answer is:
philadelphia
'city' is the definition.
(Philadelphia is an example)
'man had a pile renovated' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'phil' ().
'renovated' indicates an anagram.
'had'+'a'+'pile'='hadapile'
'hadapile' with letters rearranged gives 'adelphia'.
'phil'+'adelphia'='PHILADELPHIA'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for philadelphia that I've seen before include "Pennsylvania city" , "location for Independence Day" , "US federal capital, 1790-1800" , "City of Brotherly Love" , "US Quaker city, former capital" .)