CULTURAL ASCENDANCY falls to the civilization the world most admires.
The measure is culture PER HEAD: all your cities ever made, over your greatest population PLUS an average nation's. One town is not a shortcut.
When any nation masters ELECTRONICS the clock may start. Stay a tenth ahead of every rival for 75 turns (at Prince) and the age is yours.
Raw culture is a different race. The per-head line decides.
Any nation with a living city is ranked. A relic is weighed against the empire it used to be, not the ruin it is.
Small cities are efficient. A Temple costs the same in a town of three as in a city of twenty, and you are divided by people.
So keep them small - and keep MANY. A handful of towns cannot outweigh the world.
An ARTIST adds two culture and no new mouths. Starving a city adds nothing: you are divided by your greatest population, not today's.