There are dynamic changes in the business world of today, which affect the rapid development of the cities in different forms, which we associate with the concept of urbanization. This process was intensified during the Industrial Revolution and has been growing progressively to this day. Through this paper, we are focusing on the topicality of urban areas of the European Union and their specifics. In the Republic of Croatia, there are various concepts of urbanization such as suburbanization, littoralization, and therefore it is necessary to enter into deeper problematic because there is an interesting history of stated phenomena. Furthermore, we will elaborate European plans and strategies that relate specifically to the countries of Central Europe and the Middle East, and then we will draw a parallel with the most developed areas to analyze which factors are most important for the quality growth and development of cities. We will analyze the key structural funds of European Union under which countries have the right to collect financial assistance. Such financial assistance has greatly helped CEE countries (Central and Eastern European countries) in order to stabilize after the "capitalism crises", and has also provided ample funds in the current time of the COVID-19 crisis in order to preserve the economy. Furthermore, it will be investigated what is the impact of the European Union on the regeneration of CEE countries, and whether we are really turning towards a sustainable and inclusive economy, which is also in the European Union guidelines. There are many divisions of the area in order to facilitate the processing of databases such as NUTS regions, which is of great importance to the Counties of the Republic of Croatia, so their history and current and future plans of the leadership of Croatia on this issue will be systematized. Finally, through the questionnaire we will get an insight into the data of respondents from the Eastern macro region in the Republic of Croatia, with a special focus on the urban and rural population and will make a crosssection with information permeated through the thesis to conclude the positive and negative effects of the urban development in the Republic of Croatia.