  We study the impact of economic integration on spatial development in a model
where all consumers are inter-regionally mobile and have heterogeneous
preferences regarding their residential location choices. This heterogeneity is
the unique dispersion force in the model. We show that, under reasonable values
for the elasticity of substitution among varieties of consumption goods, a
higher trade integration always promotes more symmetric patterns, irrespective
of the functional form of the dispersion force. We also show that an increase
in the degree of heterogeneity in preferences for location leads to less
spatial inequality.
