Carlos,
I completely agree that resources are a prerequisite for organizational success.
A group in rural Afganistan will have a much different operating environment than a group in metropolitan London, and it is more likely that the group in London will be a chapter. My understanding is that WMF was thinking along similar lines when it first created the concept of user groups: that user groups would be easy to set up and have more flexible configurations.
Why shouldn't a chapter which ceases to meet the admissions criteria for chapter status be given an opportunity to improve, and if after a certain period of time the chapter still falls below the criteria, the chapter be changed to user group status?
Pine