It's a funny question - I've always thought the same but recently changed my tune (somewhat). The larger, wide-shallow units of mid-century buildings reflect not only the physical built form of the buildings but also different economic & construction realities. This isn't to say that developers were entirely altruistic, but merely that because high-rise living was new (both in lifestyle and typology), units had to be larger and better laid out to appeal and rent.
I really don't have any doubt that given a building of exactly the same dimensions as a mid-century slab, instead of getting, say, 12 units per floor with rectangular, wide-shallow layouts, we'd now be getting closer to 24 units, all in half-size squares.
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