I prefer vertical transistors for the work I do because their
conduction is subsurface and a small portion of the base is
exposed to field oxide and its lousy interface qualities. A
lateral is likely to have an inferior low-current beta even if
the peak betas are close; there is a lot of base surface to
see recombination.
The BJT does (as transdiode) "idealize" the E-B diode and
can make a better bandgap. But in any case you have to
tweak to what you've got, and a more ideal diode may or
may not give you the best tempco and linearity of it.
If you want a ground referred forward biased PN diode in
a Psub single well technology, you will be using a PNP -
like it or not. Because you need the N-well (base) to be
the cathode, and it sits in the Psub (collector). So the
structure has only one right answer and you had best
model it as what it is, not pretend it's "just a diode" and
parasitics don't matter.
Now if you have "real", three-free-terminals (not one of
them pinned to substrate) BJTs you can do simpler PTAT /
bandgap designs, not requiring a whole op amp to equal-
bias the reference diodes but making those part of the
amplifier front end and operating current-mode; like a
6-8 transistor bandgap.