Purpose of the Visibility Distinction
This page clarifies the fundamental distinction between residential listing visibility and actual housing stock within Kampala. Its purpose is to prevent conflation between what is observable through platforms and what exists within the city’s residential landscape. The discussion is methodological and non-inferential.
Visibility and housing stock are treated as structurally different concepts that must not be substituted for one another.
What Listing Visibility Represents
Listing visibility refers to residential properties that are actively published, categorized, and exposed by platforms at a specific moment. This visibility is shaped by publisher intent, platform rules, and disclosure practices.
It reflects a mediated subset of residential assets and does not aim to enumerate or approximate the total number of dwellings within the city.
What Housing Stock Encompasses
Housing stock encompasses all residential units within Kampala, regardless of whether they are listed, advertised, or formally recorded within platforms. This includes owner-occupied housing, informal settlements, privately negotiated arrangements, and unadvertised rental units.
The dataset does not observe, estimate, or approximate this broader stock.
Structural Gaps Between Visibility and Stock
The gap between listing visibility and housing stock is structural rather than incidental. Many residential units are never listed, and those that are listed may appear only briefly or selectively.
As a result, the proportion, composition, and distribution of visible listings cannot be assumed to mirror the underlying housing stock.
Implications for Interpretation
Interpreting listing visibility as housing stock introduces systematic distortion. Absence of listings does not imply absence of housing, and presence does not imply prevalence.
This distinction applies across all market, risk, and methodology modules and underpins the non-inferential use of residential data for Kampala.