The image of production and exchange seems to be as effective for urban development as its reality. In this context, few urban images are as evocative as that of port. The colourful pageant of sailors, ships, and merchandise recalls not only nostalgic desires for adventure and exotic travels, but similarly the hard numbers of wealth and innovation, in which port cities historically were able to hold a competitive advantage for centuries – as long as ships were the fastest means of transport and communication. These times are long gone. But the effectiveness of the port image has outlived the invention of motorcar, airplane, and Internet. Glasgow is a particular example where this image was able to generate both a self-reinvention of the city and a reconfigured urban historiography.