I think the argument that cities giving more score is one alternative. Infra makes up the far majority of your score and heavily outweighs cities. I frankly don't know how that'll turn out in the long run. But it contributes to high infra + low city counts.
Don't really know how to feel about this. I completely agree with the reasoning behind this, especially concerning that putting someone on beige only helps them out. Even going as far as messaging your enemy to beige you if you're in a losing war. Which just doesn't sit right with me at all. As long as they are subject to defensive wars, this does sound tempting.