Desert Cities Regional Map

[Sandman01086]

Have just started a new map and really scratching my head about a few things so was wondering if someone a lot cleverer than me could help me out.

Currently at a very early stage with this and hoping to develop this further, something like as follows:

- This continent is a large desert on the east side, but more arable land on the far west (any tips on how to get rid of the hard line and make a smooth transition would be appreciated)
- Northernmost city is is the first landing point of the settlers who came from a continent to the north
- The central region is largely impassable rocky terrain
- Southernmost city is a large trading port with another continent to the south
- Central settlement is abandoned and ruined due to events inside the central cave system
- Western towns are just edging to more fertile lands so are the main source of food/livestock for the others
- Eastern town/city are mainly fishing and mining the rocky area

Using Campaign Cartographer 3+ for this although very new to world building!

Does the town/city placement make sense? I've noticed a lot of people think about how humans develop and spread out naturally towards resources like food & water. However I've found information on deserts quite hard to come by.