I would opine though, that part of the reason Beijing is able to govern as effectively as it does is due to good relations with local government. Notably, Chine

I would opine though, that part of the reason Beijing is able to govern as effectively as it does is due to good relations with local government. Notably, Chinese citizens do not have unlimited freedom of movement within China, though that rule is only enforced during periods of high unemployment. If we look at trends for internally displaced people due to things like extreme weather events, it seems fairly clear that cities will need to have a say in how quickly they allow their population to increase. Some sharing of power obviously needs to take place between central and local authorities - the idea that more power will remain with central authorities due to the larger armies they can field seems based in a twentieth century view of warfare.