In my MA research I developed a dialectic relationship between the motives behind architectural drawings and the methods used for expressing these motives. An ideological motive, which is often present in urban planning, stems from a theoretical and psychological distance to the existing city, as argued by Richard Sennett. This results in the totalitarian character of architectural drawings, presenting an ideal city as a replacement for the existing city, as was the case with the 20th century utopias of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard. However, through a close study of Henri Lefebvre's writings on the production of space, I argue that unifying space is simultaneously necessary and problematic, because it tries to define the city’s system but at the same time simplifies this system. To visualise a city which needs diversity rather than simplicity - as advocated by Jane Jacobs in the 60s - the urban planner needs to use a different language, borrowed from artistic practice, cartography and linguistics. Relevant here are the works of Julie Mehretu, as well as the series of drawings titled 'Micromegas' by Daniel Libeskind. Through such a symbolic representation, urban planning can develop into a continuing production of space rather than an ideal city planned on an empty white plane.