...not with the camel/camel-context part of the schema. It would appear that area is really a camel configuration in another guise and this would be better handled (in 4.x) through the normal camel mechanisms...
I understand what you're saying, and it is "more" configuration. However, it's not really Camel configuration at all - that is all done in the RoutesBuilder implementation, defined by the class attribute. The RoutesBuilder approach is very much the normal camel mechanism. It is their Java DSL, after all. The extension to jboss-esb.xml is just so we can tell the ESB about it.
However, in retrospect I would agree that maybe this is too much for the 4.x stream, and a better "baby step" for 4.x would be in order, like what Tom Fennelly just suggested. We can do something "braver" in 5.x. ;)