Huh, who knew this was such a contentious issue (see ITT)? lol, I enjoyed it, though, so thanks. It’s definitely a thought-provoking experiment. One thing you mentioned is how the city has usually been the focal point of a lot of power, but something most people aren’t mentioning is that the industrial age city is a whole other entity, one that’s much more powerful and populous than previous city state forms.

Without getting too far into the weeds of definitions (suburbs etc), I think it should be noted that for the first time ever, humans are now more urban than rural. As you mentioned, the pull of the city is too strong.

But let’s also pay attention to the other specter in the room: Climate Change. Cities are the main way to cluster people and provide green solutions for transportation living etc. IOW they will only grow stronger. Well, either that or we won’t find solutions and human civilization collapses.

Of course, then we have the matter of the political set up (almost all appearing to be set for pre-industrial ages when farms were a main part of the economy) in the US (& in many other democratic countries) where cities are basically being robbed for other areas.

Which leads us to your final city state end state.

Let’s hope we find better solutions long before then.