'Evolution of Housing Estate Roads' is the script for a two part television documentary that explores the past, present and future of housing estate roads in the UK, in particular why there is such variability in their layout and appearance.The programme is suited to television channels that show documentaries. It investigates an unusual topic which is relevant to today's audience because most people in the UK will at some stage of their lives live on or close to a housing estate road. It hopes to inspire the audience to look at these roads with a new interest.Using a mix of on-location to-camera speaking by two presenters (one male, one female), voice-overs to archive images and film, and informative reconstructions, the programme looks at the influences that have driven changes to housing estate layouts over the years.It begins with the Industrial Revolution which kick started mass housing as families moved from the countryside to the expanding towns to work in new factories and busy ports. Commuting over longer distances from newly built suburbs also become possible thanks to the invention of the steam engine and railways. Next, the programme looks at why housing estate roads were long and straight in the latter half of the 1800s, the dominance of the 'Garden City' layout after the First World War, the rise of the car after the Second World War (and various attempts to control vehicle speeds), and more recent concerns such as flood prevention and recycling materials.It considers advances in construction techniques in the past hundred years that occurred in response to changing circumstances, for example changes to drainage provision and to road surface materials, and explores problems caused by each generation of new car being wider than the previous, but new road widths staying roughly the same.The programme concludes by considering advances in computer software that enable more innovative housing estate layouts, and what impact future technologies like glow in the dark paints and self-driving cars could have on future housing estate roads.Housing (or the shortage of housing) is a growing political issue in the UK, and a programme about housing estate roads could tap into this topic, add to the debate, and increase public knowledge and awareness of civil engineering.