More Visual Feedback for planet GUIs

One of my main complaints about Endless Space 1 was that there was a real lack of visual feedback about the worlds I was influencing and colonizing and yet in Endless Legend there wasn't ever an upgrade you could add to the cities without seeing them grow and change - as a result I enjoy EL far more than ES. When adding upgrades to the system, all you know is that something is happening. But you never see it except for more boxes added to the 'active enhancements' panel to the right of the construction panel to the left. But when you look at the worlds themselves, they are completely unchanged. Let me show you something. Take a look at this actual orbital image of the night-side of earth taken in 2012.

Click here.

From this image you can make out major population centres from city-lights.

So what I'm suggesting is that as population rises, there is a visual increase of cities on the surface which are visible on the night side of the planet as it rotates on the system menu screen and the planetary menu screen. Likewise other upgrades should make visual changes to the planet. There are many ways this can be represented. Orbital Tethers connecting the surface to a space station, satellites orbiting, planet circling facilities like the Halo stations, planetary shielding and merchant ships seen entering and exiting orbit. There is an endless list of ways that an upgrade could make the player see that their choice did make a difference which is far better than just seeing numbers increase in the UI.

(edit: corrected title to simplified version)