Provided are a radio base station, a user terminal and a radio communication method capable of making accurate measurement in various network configurations in HetNet. The radio communication method according to the present invention has, in a heterogeneous network having a network configuration where a macro cell overlays a micro cell that is smaller than the macro cell, a radio base station that forms the macro cell and is connected to a macro terminal under control of the macro cell determining a measurement subframe to measure a CRS based on the network configuration, generating a time reference indicating the measurement subframe and transmitting a signal including the time reference and the CRS to the macro terminal; and the macro terminal receiving the time reference and the CRS and measuring the CRS in the measurement subframe indicated by the time reference.