Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is one of the known mechanisms to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Nevertheless, there was a global mix reaction towards its successful implementation with a few operational failures, especially in the area of its legal framework. Therefore, this paper aim is to explore the success and failure experience to be a reference for the development of Special Border Economic Zone at Bukit Kayu Hitam using qualitative textual analysis. It finds that two significant issues in SEZs; regulatory/ legal framework, and development spill-over. Keywords: Special Economic Zones; Land Use Planning Law; Policy Implementation; Bukit Kayu Hitam. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i14.2270

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is a known mechanism that policymakers commonly use to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). However, there is a global mixed reaction towards its successful implementation with a few operational failures, especially from the legal framework perspective. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the land use planning legal issues encountered by the development of the Special Economic Zones in Malaysia. Two significant legal issues and problems focusing on the cases related to land use planning and land matters have been identified using qualitative textual analysis. Findings show that there are loopholes and weaknesses in the statutory plan and local authorities exercising their power on land use planning management related matters. Thus, understanding the legal cases from these two issues is essential in formulating the next course of action on how the legal and regulatory framework should be embodied and embedded in the land use planning practice and policy in the SEZs' development.