I feel like Jeff hawkins was working on this with HTMs, but they never really took off. I suspect it was hardware adaptability based, memory access patterns for sparse graph training aren't ideal candidates for t/gpus.
Anyway since we know that any part of neocortex can be reached from any other within 3 hops, and there is more feedback connectivity than feedforward connectivity in nearly every part of neocortex, it should be called a heterarchy.
Hierarchy is a handy metaphor/mental crutch from understanding primate social organization, not necessarily how the brain works.