Both of your examples are used for the express purpose of getting out of melee. This is typically done because melee specs naturally try to get into it, not because the mage wants them there.
If you can do everything outside of melee range at full effectiveness, there's inherently no incentive not to. Getting into melee range just means you're subject to additional danger.
So to have a spec with the style you seek, you can't be at full effectiveness while staying at range, but that means you have to do it in raids. And unless the range abilities only work at range, the spec would likely just stay in melee full-time there, making it effectively just a melee spec.
Survival works because a melee having some range capability is helpful, especially when the target refuses to stay near you.