I'm not exactly sure why cities having the 'freedom' to get played off against one another or to let rentiers suck wealth out of the system is such a good thing

I'm not exactly sure why cities having the 'freedom' to get played off against one another or to let rentiers suck wealth out of the system is such a good thing. I'd rather politicians didn't have the "freedom" to knuckle under pressure from plutocratic forces and just told large companies and rich individuals to go fuck themselves when they come around demanding handouts.