Lets keep XLI out of the question. Its not worth the money.
GLI and CITY. You must understand the main difference between these 2 cars. City is for drivers and Corolla is for riders (as per our local standards in a specific category). How you may ask?
City:
Smaller so more agile
More power so good acceleration
Despite the eps, better control
Corolla:
Softer suspension so more comfortable
Better noise dampening so slightly but nonetheless quieter cabin
this is my opinion and my findings.
Coming to your concerns
1- Value for money = City (New and more features come as standard)
2- Ride suitable to you = Hilly areas dont matter if the road is paved and smooth. City will be fun to drive. If you're not that fond of driving pleasure, you can choose either. If roads are bumpy with dips and holes, Corolla will offer a smoother ride and a dull drive. Vice versa for the City.
3- Money vs Comfort = depends on what kind of comfort you are referring to. Ride comfort? Mental Comfort? if you could kindly elaborate this concern of yours, ill be better able to give my suggestion/opinion
4- Technically speaking, both cars are similar in terms of suspension design. Power wise, City is much superior and same is the story with fuel consumption. If its reliability then thats similar too. Reliability majorly depends on the user and his/her care towards the car. Just to give you an example, I have a 2000 model city exis, 152k km on the odo, 14 years old. I still get 13-14 km/l in city with ac if driven carefully and 0-100 is under 11 sec. I take care of the car and it never bothers me. For me its as reliable as a car can get.
Personally i would choose city if i were in your position because its better to drive and offers better mileage plus it'll be new.
best of luck for your purchase. Please take my reply as a suggestion and not the hard reality