This entry contains mild story spoilers.
Reading boundary: Chapters 1–3. This note stays with the city as it first appears, not its later revelations.
Adam's run in Chapter One takes him through The Meadows: a gated estate for executives of the Big Three. Its curving roads and spacious homes contrast with the geometric grids elsewhere in Alderbourne. The houses use the same printing technology as the rest of the city. The price, space and security are another matter.
In Chapter Three, his drive to work passes through progressively older, more crowded streets before reaching the corporate district. Calder Energy and Meridian Healthcare built Alderbourne after the Second British Civil War, combining energy and infrastructure with technology originally developed to print organs. Apex supplied the printing robots.
The companies aren't just names on distant towers. Aegis guards the gate, CILLA answers through Adam's phone, and Calder Prime is close enough for its smell to reach his neighbourhood. The opening chapters introduce the city through the ordinary business of getting home and going to work.
Begin at The Meadows, or read the drive through Alderbourne.