Prior to World War 2, it was a small farming village but city planners in Glasgow earmarked it to become one of the second generation new towns along with Cumbernauld, Livingston and Houston inspired by the success of East Kilbride which was built in 1948. Lots of low rise housing was built in the village but it never expanded beyond that and Bishopton remains a small village to this day despite several private ventures raising population slightly in the past decade.