Revolutionary turning up close to city (5)
I believe the answer is:
derby
'to city' is the definition.
(Derby is an English city)
'revolutionary turning up close' is the wordplay.
'revolutionary' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'turning up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'close' becomes 'by' (I've seen this in other clues).
'red' written backwards gives 'der'.
'der'+'by'='DERBY'
(Other definitions for derby that I've seen before include "Gracefully thin" , "China" , "Local contest" , "confrontation between neighbours" , "Team" .)