I first grew veg on an "ordinary allotment, and it worked very well, you could charge up and down with a rotovator all day if you liked.
very satisfying.
BUT, I do suffer from chronic back pain, which, the specialist joyfully tells me, Isn't going to get any better.
SO, for the last few years, I've gone over to all raised beds. Less growing ground for sure, but the pathways are all even ( less strain on the back ) are easy to wheel a barrow of muck down, and you can get right up to where you are going to spread it about ( less strain on the back ), you don't have to bend over quite so far ( less strain on the back ) easy to hand weed, you don't HAVE to dig them if you keep your clod hopping feet of them ( less strain on the back ), and if you DO want to turn them over, you can use a small light weight mantis type tiller ( yes, you guessed right, less strain on the back! )
The other benifit as has been said allready, is that they do look very tidy if done correctly, but then I'm sortta funny about that sort of thing!