LAUSR

Abstract With rapid industrialization over the Asian-Pacific coastal region, sustainable management has received increased levels of attention. The way to construct the sustainable management mode suitable for local characteristics becomes an important issue; it requires an in-depth understanding of local management practices changes and historical culture. In this respect, there is a lack of comprehensive discussions on centralized/decentralized management pattern change for this region. Based on historical document analysis for the Jiangsu coast, we reconstruct the evolution of coastal management modes. Here we show that coastal management in Jiangsu has witnessed repeated transitions between centralized and decentralized mode, encompassing four periods: traditional management before the late 19th century, the decentralized practice in the early 20th century, the centralized management associated with the planned economic system from the 1950s–1980s, and the decentralized management in response to the adoption of a market economic system after the 1980s. The driving forces for the changes identified include geomorphological changes, population growth and social-economic regime shifts. We propose that, to optimize coastal management, a hybrid model should be established to take into account both centralized and decentralized components. Although coastal management is decentralization-oriented in most western countries, in the Asia-Pacific coastal regions, local conditions and historical features should be taken into account to adjust the balance between centralized and decentralized variables in the management. With the increasing attention to ecosystem health in China, together with future climate changes and population dynamics, the centralized component should be re-considered within the hybrid model.