That quote, without context, does sound very interesting to apply to the governments/societies of Armada and New Crobuzon.

As for the 'espionage>adventure' thing, I might guess that there might be a location and movement angle, with adventure being something that happens 'out there' and espionage is something that happens 'here' perhaps? It might also be an overt/covert dichotymy, with adventure being something that happens in public, and espionage is a 'behind closed doors' kind of deal.

From what text does this quote come? I can always use more books to add to my stupidly large queue of academitexts to read.