SANTIAGO, Oct. 9 -- Latin America's urban population grew 240 percent in the last three decades while its rural population rose only 6.1 percent, Jose Luis Machinea, head of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean (ECLAC), said Tuesday.

       "It is hard to move forward on social cohesion while cities are fragmented: which is what is happening in most of the region," Machinea said at the 16th Latin American and Caribbean Housing and Urban Areas Ministers Conference, which opened here Tuesday.

       The ECLAC executive secretary said that informal employment soared because urbanization was not accompanied by job growth, especially for women and young people.

       Machinea cited European Union estimates that by 2050 two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities and half of the city-dwellers would live in precarious conditions.

       "Today, a great challenge for our governments is emerging: how to contribute to the anti-poverty campaign and to social inclusion with our sectoral policies," said Chilian Minister of Housing and Urbanism Patricia Poblete.

       Her Uruguayan counterpart, Mariano Arana, said that "we are the region with the worst income inequality, something that shames us all."

       The Tuesday conference focused on two presentations on Argentine and Cuban housing programs.

       The conference, which was first held in 1992, aims to create a permanent dialogue between the region's housing and urbanization ministers.