The delegates - 3,000-plus representatives of government, academia, and non-governmental organisations - were taking part in the second round of the World Urban Forum, held in Barcelona over several days last week. The forum - sponsored by the United Nations Program on Human Settlements (Habitat) - was attended by more than 600 mayors and world leaders, who discussed the strains rapid urbanisation is putting on the environment, transportation and urban housing.

But to watch Dr Nie flash slides of sparkling housing developments in her well-honed Power Point presentation, one might think that urban poverty in China was a misnomer.

To ensure there was no mistaking the message she was in town to convey, Dr Nie, a former director general of China's Ministry of Construction, reported: 'In a word, the Chinese government has always devoted itself to solving the housing problems of low-income households.'

Some would beg to differ. Addressing the topic of public housing in the lead up to the conference, Yonghe Zhang, a Beijing-based architect and urban planner, said: 'A coordinated public housing programme is absolutely what China needs. The growing gap between the rich and the poor will result in segregation because the rich will fear the poor, like in many Latin American cities. China doesn't want to face these same problems.'

According to a 2003 UN-Habitat report, 924 million people, or 31.6 per cent of the world's urban population, live in slums - most in the cities of the developing world.

In many countries, architects take on the design of public housing as a pet project or design exercise aimed at improving the lives of these slum residents, but Chinese architects and planners don't seem to share in this tradition.

'In China, public housing is not a problem that can be solved by architects directly,' Mr Zhang said. 'It first needs state policy. Pseudo-public housing programs do exist, but they're just real estate developments in disguise.

'I try to talk to anyone I can about this. If you want to have a stable society, you need to have public housing.

'The government should tackle all of these housing, medical, education, retirement and unemployment problems before it's too late.'

On Tuesday, UN Habitat launched its biannual report, 'The State of the World's Cities', which places China in the same league as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in their share of urban slum dwellers. Habitat estimates that almost 40 per cent of the urban population in Chinese cities are slum dwellers and that half of them live on less than US$1 a day - almost double the percentage which do so in countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Of the 194 Asian cities with populations of more than one million, some 98 are on the mainland and in Taiwan. This number will grow into the foreseeable future, along with the sheer number of urban poor in these megacities.

In a one-on-one interview, Dr Nie was much more realistic about the problems facing Chinese cities in the process of urbanising.

'It's not that there aren't people doing research. In fact, there are many scholars focusing on this issue in China, but few of them speak out,' she said. 'This is mostly because there's general disagreement about what the main problem is, and where we should focus our efforts.'

Like many other development scholars, Dr Nie says that solving China's urban problems begins in the countryside, rather than the city.

'If there were no poverty in rural areas, then there wouldn't be such a large urban in-migration, and migrants, therefore, wouldn't strain the cities' infrastructure.'

Dr Nie admits the national government has yet to develop a sound policy to deal with urban migrants who legally fall outside the remit of local governments. 'Migrants from the countryside lack a city residency permit and, therefore, their needs aren't addressed in China's current affordable housing programme.'

She pointed out China's good fortune in lacking the same kind of slums that dot the landscape of so many African and Latin American cities. 'The government would never let this happen for fear of instability.'

This theme of instability, particularly in the post-September 11 era, resonated clearly in the speeches and lectures delivered throughout the conference.

In a message read on his behalf, UN Secretay-General Kofi Annan stressed the relevance of focusing on urban development as a means of thwarting social instability. 'Standing astride every intersection on the global network of trade and migration, the world's cities must become shining examples of inclusiveness and equity as called for in the Millennium Declaration. Otherwise, they will remain potential flashpoints of conflict and reservoirs of poverty - barriers to humanity's further development.'

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev called on world leaders to redouble their efforts. 'Urbanisation is bringing problems of concern to us all,' he said. 'Four years ago, when world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, it seemed they recognised the urgency of the problems.

'But all of us today are concerned that many leaders, having taken that step, haven't shown the political will to implement them and take on the obligations they assumed. We have to be frank - we can't leave the millennium commitments to the same fate as the Rio document of 1992.'

The commitments Mr Gorbachev invoked in his speech refer to the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at poverty reduction and environmental sustainability that the UN adopted in 2000.

One of those goals (Target 11 of Goal Seven) bears the most significance for delegates to the World Urban Forum. It calls for 'significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020'.

When Dr Nie was asked about where China stood in terms of meeting Target 11 she faltered, saying that the government continued its 'hard work'.

In an effort to collaborate with China in fostering recognition of the MDGs, UN-Habitat executive director Anna Tibaijuka inaugurated the first International Habitat Festival, held in Weihai, Shandong, at the start of this month. Activities at the festival included exhibitions on housing development and building products, and technical seminars.

Last year, the Weihai Municipal Government was awarded the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour for outstanding improvements in shelter and the urban environment. During a Habitat meeting in November last year, delegates marvelled at the fruits of Weihai's campaign (begun in 1987) aimed at strengthening transportation infrastructure, greening the environment and managing pollution in the city.

But Habitat's courtship with China doesn't end with Weihai. This year, it also bestowed a Scroll of Honour on Xiamen in Fujian province. During Habitat day celebrations on October 4 in Nairobi, Kenya, representatives of Xiamen Municipal People's Government will receive their award in recognition of their Economy Housing Project. Launched in 1980, the project aims to fulfil the city's mandate of providing 'a decent roof over everyone's head'. The city raised US$8.66 billion, allowing for the construction of 16.17 million square metres of residential housing.

Habitat has also selected China to host its fourth World Urban Forum in 2008, conveniently timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games.

In the past, Habitat made concentrated efforts to build bridges with cities in India, Africa, and Latin America, whose sprawling slums rightfully demand attention from NGOs and international agencies. But now it seems that, warranted or not, China has become the new darling of the development world.

Dr Nie is living proof. When asked by Habitat staff if she would stay another day to attend a session the following morning, she graciously declined: 'I'd love to, but I'm flying to Marrakech tomorrow. They want me to speak at another forum on urban water shortages.'