I used to play mandolin and violin, and I thought it was a waste of range to go with chordal tuning.
Many years later I'm thinking differently. I think the chords are nicer with uke/guitar, and I'm used to the uneven intervals.
If I was just playing melodies I might feel differently but I strum a lot too.
Having said that, I was thinking about trying violin strings on a uke, and tuning it like a violin/mandolin. You can get real gut strings for violin - might be a neat sound. Although I seem to remember the high E is steel. Maybe that E is too high for nylon or gut strings to handle. Maybe you could substitute it for a very light flourocarbon string - check the fishing line thread from a while back.
One tuning I have now on my mandolin is a hybrid - 3 pairs only, and the bottom is C, middle is G, and top is C. So the bottom two are 7 half-steps apart and the top two are five. I guess it's C minor tuning - it certainly sounds very minor, even though there's no third in the open string setup. I use it for tremolo melodies and it's pretty instinctive.