This sounds like a question likely to have been addressed by geographers especially the spatial geographers of the 1960s and earlier geographers looking at why spatial patterns occur. A good introduction to these questions as they relate to land use is 

Chisholm, Michael. Rural Settlement and Land Use. London: Hutchinson & Co, 1968.
 
This text was very influential on some of the models of prehistory land use particularly site catchment analysis, even though it was based on more contemporary observations.

A search of the geographic literature should go a long way to helping you with your research.

Iain Stuart

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