The thing is that Civic is supposed to be the business car. It should be big and bulky so that it looks like it would be a handful to drive very fast and recklessly. And City is supposed to be the 'boy racers' car. They mixed both up with the 8th gen Civic and the '06 City.
Now the City is lower, shorter, less wider and shorter hence perfectly catering to the market!
Not sure about this new City design though.. 
"Speed limits are like herpes. Once you get them, you can never get rid of them." -Jeremy Clarkson