The story takes place in a world where appreciation for detail and complexity flourishes. Inspired by the style of the real-world 1890s, it's something of a blend between the intricacy of the steampunk influence of the era and the cleanliness and operational simplicity of modern technology. There is much less pollution than a standard steampunk world would have, but it still retains all the nice ornateness. I think of the blend as something along the lines of "solarpunk" since much of the power is reliant more on solar power than steam power.
Cars are much more rare in this world, the most common modes of transport being rails, including steam trains, bullet trains, maglev trains, trams, and subways, meaning pretty much all roads are replaced with rails and there are more people just kind walking around. Cities still have a lot of open spaces for recreational areas like parks and plazas. Monocycles (http://blog.wfmu.org/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/10/monowheel_03.jpg) also see a lot of use. Upper-middle-classmen quite often own personal airships, so such vessels can often be seen adorning the skies above. Dirigibles are also used as public transport over land and sea and are the most common kind of vehicle used in war. A less common, but still often seen, form of transoceanic transport is the standard ocean liner.
Most of the naming for the countries and NPCs is based on the naming schemes of the Scandinavian countries. Mine tend to lean toward Norwegian, specifically. The lore is also influenced by Norse mythology, which is why several places will follow the same kind of naming scheme. However, there is no pressure to think of a good Norwegian name if you'd rather not.
Aside from that, I envision the world to be pretty similar to our own. Don't be afraid to ad-lib something if you don't know if it fits with the setting. As long as it follows fairly close to everything above, I'll be pretty lax about it.