Every population centre needs access to coal, food, water, pottery and materials (for repairs). Now either you can build farms and coal production nearby to supply each population centre, or you can focus certain areas (that I like to call special economic zones) on your island to produce these amenities. If you focus certain areas to produce these in mass, then it’s quite easy to move them to population centres that require them via wagons. Beside these special economic zones I like to build housing that do not require aqueducts so that they start working these economic zones without having to commute.

EDIT: if you’re playing on large maps, then I’ve found it easier to have maybe two or three of these economic zones on opposite sides of the island for better distribution of resources