Shopping centre closing early in a rural area (7)
I believe the answer is:
arcadia
'a rural area' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shopping centre closing early' is the wordplay.
'shopping centre' becomes 'Arcadian' (Arcadian Shopping Centre in Birmingham).
'closing early' means to remove the last letter.
'arcadian' with its last letter removed is 'ARCADIA'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for arcadia that I've seen before include "Idyllic country of song-loving shepards" , "Idealised rustic paradise" , "Poetically the home of songloving shepherds" , "Idealised pastoral setting - Greek region" , "pastoral paradise" .)