URBAN POLICY AS A COMPONENT OF REGIONAL POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND IN CROATIA

Urban policy consists of the measures for promoting urban development and urban reconstruction. An analysis of the reform of the European Union's regional policy has also shown changes in European policy towards cities and towns. Although urban policy was not explicitly mentioned in the beginnings of the European Community, the European Commission has started to solve urban problems through different models (Urban Pilot Project and URBAN Initiative). The experiences from these programmes are the basis of acquis urbain, which in turn resulted in urban mainstreaming in the financial programmes of the European Union for the period 2007-2013. Urban support measures have become part of the operational programmes of the Member States and their regions. The author has tried to establish whether towns (and particularly large towns) are of any importance in the Croatian regional policy by analysing the Strategy of Regional Development and development strategies of individual counties. These are the basic documents that contain the main development paths of Croatia and its counties respectively.