INSTITUSI PENGAJIAN TINGGI DALAM PEMBANGUNAN EKONOMI PENGALAMAN DI SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA.

The development of higher learning institutions is seen as a strategy to trigger the development of an urban space in most developing countries. In the context of today's urban development, higher learning institutions are also able to develop and go along with the pace of experience economy. Through the framework of experience, the establishment of higher learning institutions can stimulate and encourage the urban development based on the principals of 4E of experience economy. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of higher learning institutions on the elements of experience economy development towards the development of the higher learning institution cities around the peninsular Malaysia. Four elements of experience economy are used as a framework in assessing the experience economy achievement of those cities. The development resulting from the higher learning institutions establishment are evaluated by looking at the status achieved by the city and the facilities built after the establishment of the institutions. Facilities that reflect each experience; education, entertainment, esthetics and escapist are seen to assess the achievement of experience economy in each of the higher learning institutions cities. The findings show that almost all of the institutions that were evaluated succeeded in influencing the element of educational experience in their respective cities. In addition, research institutions succeeded in developing experience economy both in the urban and rural area. As a conclusion, this study contributes to the importance of the roles of higher learning institutions in stimulating the development of the experience economy in the urban services sector and also contributes to the corpus of knowledge with regards to the capability of the framework of experience economy in developing a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]