Cheers
I say PBNs are for short term as majority of the PBNs nowadays are outsourced.
Meaning, you really have zero control over what happens on that specific network.
Whether it becomes a linkfarm or it stays an exclusive PBN for you is up to the owner.
Or whether the network gets exposed and fingerprints gets leaked out or google has caught wind of it.
A long term project would not want to risk that kind of network.
Instead, while the same can be said for guest post /niche edits. If you gather it from authority sites and you know they are sites a "student" would use as a reference in their essay papers. You know your foundations are strong.
In terms of building for the long term, you are looking for a strong foundations to lean back on whenever Big G sends us updates.