I am glad its possible because I see no reason to forbid it ingame.
Even in real life its possible to change a town layout.
Its a lot of work, costs a ton and makes a lot of people angry, but its possible.
So possible yes, but maybe expensive e.g. loosing the stuff that was needed to build, ...
I agree - loosing everything is often the reason why people stop playing.
But banks that aren't linked could have something like a hidden cellar, safe spots outside the city to hid stuff, ...
Ingame that could look like a bank system where you have a part thats "safe".
If you have to much stuff the part in the "not safe area" is lootable.
In a case like this it would be your responsibility to bring the stuff to a safe place like your own house.
Maybe part of the city development could be to create "more safe space"?
When you loose a siege you could it explain as "An NPC takes the stuff thats in the safe part of the bank and brings it somewhere during the siege". The owner could get a map with information where to find the stuff.
Then you can get this stuff thats somewhere hidden outside the city.
Maybe add a timer (days / weeks) before everyone has the chance to find the hidden stuff?
Because I don't think it would be possible to get a lot of stuff out of a city that an enemy controls.
And owning stuff that you can't access is the same as losing the stuff.
I think I will create characters on all planets to check out what playstyle I like most.
Normally I like a mix of PVE/PVP but the human race is just... boring. 
Well my friends will probably choose beast or human. There is a high chance that I will play wherever they end at. 
For me it sounds like as non-citizen I get all the advantages, without the disadvantages with the current idea.
I think the city owners should have more advantages for letting people stay in their area like taxes, bonuses, ... special plot reservation/spots for citizens, ...
About the discussion "Guild vs. Solo players" - in the past I have done all:
It always depends on the community what I do.
I think it shouldn't be a discussion how people want to play but a discussion how to make it fair for all players.
I prefer TS to Discord.
I only use Discord as forum replacement.
I don't think its possible to stop the information flow.
You would only remove it from the game - outside there would be other options.
e.g. a special global trading Discord could pop up instead of the trading in chat, ...
I am pretty sure a Discord will pop up anyway because messages in Discord will last longer then in chat.
Why not create different ingame channels?
e.g. trade channel, newbie channel, ...
That would make the channel overview better.
As long as the cash shop has cosmetics and music I don't mind more funds for development.
We could even add stuff like "style theme for towns"
e.g. in a specific town its possible to build houses with a specific style like eastern, middleage, ...
That would add to "each town has a special feeling".
Maybe it would be possible to add a setting like "I can't loot good players" or something?
But one thing I learned in Albion was "Its good to loot your friends and bring them back their stuff".
I would like to be able to do that here also without negative consequences.
It wouldn't be "pay to win" if you could also get "Loot-pets" in-game and the cash pets would just look nicer.
But the problem with "What to loot", ... would remain.
Why not check if someone is afk (like 10 minutes no input) - then satiety / rest depletion pauses.
But if someone is active in town (going around, crafting, ...) - then satiety / rest depletion is active?
We will see who has it easier tomorrow.