The provisions of Section 81-40 (MANDATORY DISTRICT PLAN ELEMENTS) specify mandatory planning and urban design features. Requirements which apply generally or with minor specified exceptions throughout the Special Midtown District are fully set forth in the provisions of Section 81-40. For requirements which are not generally applicable but tied to specific locations within the District, the locations where these requirements apply are shown on Map 3 (Retail and Street Wall Continuity) or Map 4 (Subway Station and Rail Mass Transit Facility Improvement Areas) in Appendix A of this Chapter.

The provisions of Section 81-40 are all primarily oriented toward the accommodation and well-being of pedestrians. The requirements pertain to a number of elements which are interrelated and complement one another but are set forth in different sections because they can be treated separately. Sections 81-42 (Retail Continuity Along Designated Streets), 81-43 (Street Wall Continuity Along Designated Streets) and 81-44 (Curb Cut Restrictions) are a group of sections with closely related purposes concerned with amenity and the well-being and safety of pedestrians. Sections 81-45 to 81-48, inclusive, are all concerned primarily with pedestrian traffic circulation. Major building entrances are focal points of heavy pedestrian traffic, so that controls on the locations of these entrances, as set forth in Section 81-48, are closely related to the pedestrian circulation space requirements.

Special district plan requirements for the Penn Center Subdistrict are set forth in Section 81-50, for the East Midtown Subdistrict are set forth in Section 81-60, for the Theater Subdistrict are set forth in Section 81-70, for the Fifth Avenue Subdistrict are set forth in Section 81-80 and for the Preservation Subdistrict are set forth in Section 81-90.