Organized Polycentricity: Structural Characteristics and Operational Mechanisms of the Adaptive Governance Network in the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetlands

ABSTRACT Adaptive governance has been largely developed and applied in the Global North, and there is a significant tension between its theoretical assumptions and the relatively concentrated governance structures and government‐led governance realities in the Global South. Therefore, whether adaptive governance can be effectively applied to the Global South largely depends on contextual conditions such as the role of government and social structure. Against this backdrop, this study takes the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetlands as its research object, uses social network analysis to quantify and visualize the structural characteristics and evolutionary trends of actor relationships in the governance network, and combines semi‐structured interviews to address: (1) What structural characteristics does the governance network of the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetlands exhibit? (2) Can adaptive governance operate effectively under the condition that the government maintains its overall coordinating function? (3) What impact does the government's overall coordinating function have on multi‐actor participation? The analysis results indicate that the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetlands governance network exhibits an “organized polycentricity” structure—the government maintains a high degree of centrality within the network, undertaking core coordinating functions while simultaneously creating institutional space for multi‐actor participation. This “organized polycentricity” structure, to some extent, bridges the structural deficiencies of both the insufficient adaptability of a single government‐led model and the low decision‐making efficiency of a purely multi‐actor collaborative model. It provides a reference based on Chinese experience for wetland governance in the Global South, demonstrating a feasible path to create institutional space for multi‐actor participation while maintaining the government's coordinating function.