If one of you already said this i apologise as I skimread most of the thread, anyway...

What works for me is to type: ~add_population city -amount

Its a cheat (I know, I'm pathetic) but It's much more convenient than slaughtering your own city every 15 years (unless your'e into that stuff).

Note: Just like slaughtering your city, it means that the city pays less army upkeep but means other cities will pay more.

Hope this helped