Las Ramblas divides the old city of Barcelona, isolating El Raval for over 1000 years of urban development. The maintenance of the boundary allowed the neighbourhood to develop outside the norm of Barcelona proper. Despite its proximity to the city's major tourist attractions and as a part of the Ciutat Vella [old city], it is perceived and functions as it always has, on the margin.  This thesis will examine the urban fabric of Raval using a variety of urban methodologies with the intention of revealing the edge conditions. Rethinking the street and how it facilitates diverse, often 'transgressive', transactions between residents is measured against the cultural, government-funded civic interventions focused at bringing tourism to the neighbourhood. The thesis will go onto outline the protagonist of a series of narratives, how they thrive, exist, intersect and the paths that reveal a contemporary transgressive urbanism.