  We present an analysis of the spatial distribution of various stellar
populations within the Large Magellanic Cloud. We combine mid-infrared selected
young stellar objects, optically selected samples with mean ages between ~9 and
~1000 Myr, and existing stellar cluster catalogues to investigate how stellar
structures form and evolve within the LMC. For the analysis we use Fractured
Minimum Spanning Trees, the statistical Q parameter, and the two-point
correlation function. Restricting our analysis to young massive (OB) stars we
confirm our results obtained for M33, namely that the luminosity function of
the groups is well described by a power-law with index -2, and that there is no
characteristic length-scale of star-forming regions. We find that stars in the
LMC are born with a large amount of substructure, consistent with a 2D fractal
distribution with dimension ~1.8 and evolve towards a uniform distribution on a
timescale of ~175 Myr. This is comparable to the crossing time of the galaxy
and we suggest that stellar structure, regardless of spatial scale, will be
eliminated in a crossing time. This may explain the smooth distribution of
stars in massive/dense young clusters in the Galaxy, while other, less massive,
clusters still display large amounts of structure at similar ages. By comparing
the stellar and star cluster distributions and evolving timescales, we show
that infant mortality of clusters (or 'popping clusters') have a negligible
influence on galactic structure. Finally, we quantify the influence of the
elongation, differential extinction, and contamination of a population on the
measured Q value.
