2026-09-08
32 分钟The back-to-school scramble used to mean overpriced uniforms and endless waiting, but not in Shenzhen.
Parents there pick up a standard school shirt at the corner store, the supermarket,
or through a delivery app, all for the price of a meal.
The city set a unified design, then stepped back and let the market take over.
And it worked.
So what's the hidden formula?
And could this same approach reinvent how we deliver other public services?
Live from our studios in Beijing, this is Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherly.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
And for the show, I'm with Feifei and Yushan.
Imagine starting a new school year and realizing you don't need to wait for your school to order uniforms.
In South China's Shenzhen, parents can simply walk into a neighborhood shop or a supermarket
or even open a delivery app and buy a standard school uniform for just a few dozen yuan.
The design is unified across the city, but production and sales are left to the market.
Yeah, I've never worn a school uniform ever in any of my school days.
Elementary school, middle school, high school, and of course university, no.
But yeah, in Canada, it's just not a thing unless you're going to private schools.
But I think we used to complain a lot about school uniforms
when I was in high school, elementary and junior high because all the school uniforms are kind of...