Demographic potentials are one of the most important factors of urban growth and development that significantly affect the development of urban processes. The development of urban spaces can also affect the change of demographic structure in a positive and negative context. The aim of this thesis is to analyze and present the demographic characteristics and potentials of selected urban areas in the Republic of Croatia and to explain the connection between these characteristics and economic development. The paper presents the importance of urban areas, describes the Croatian urban context, proves the role of the population in encouraging urban development, with a more detailed analysis of the examples of Zagreb, Rijeka, Pula and Zadar. In the analysis of examples, the paper presents the basic characteristics of the observed cities, analyzes demographic characteristics in more detail, looks at urban processes, including SWOT analysis for the field of demography, and also presents strategic frameworks and measures for future urban development. In the last part of the paper, a separate comparative analysis of selected cities is presented, with a critical review arising from the comparative analysis of demographic processes of the observed urban areas. The importance of demographic potentials in developing urban areas is confirmed, differences between cities have been identified, as well as the similarities in unfavourable demographic trends. In further development it is necessary to act in such a way that the demographic potentials are exploited in accordance with the specific needs of urban areas, prevent that population concentration results with negative effects (especially in cities which have strong business power), enable the development of the surrounding areas of the larger cities that will use the benefits of agglomerations to attract the population. By connecting agglomerations, larger and smaller urban areas, it is possible to contribute to solving numerous economic, wider social and other issues. In addition, it is necessary to act through targeted measures that will prevent further negative demographic trends. Urban areas should be developed in accordance with the public interests and needs of urban citizens, in order to increase living standards, provide adequate quality of public services and further development, where demographic potentials are the main generators.