Purpose of Highlighting Visibility Risk
This page explains the risk that arises when residential listing visibility in Kampala is misinterpreted as a direct representation of housing conditions, availability, or structure. The purpose is to define a clear decision boundary that prevents conflation between what is visible in listings and what exists within the residential landscape.
The discussion focuses on interpretive risk rather than on outcomes, opportunities, or corrective action.
Visibility as a Mediated Layer
Residential listings represent a mediated layer of information shaped by publisher behavior, platform design, and disclosure practices. What appears visible is the result of intentional publication rather than comprehensive observation.
This mediation means that listings reflect exposure choices, not the full set of residential properties within the city.
Common Forms of Misinterpretation
Misinterpretation occurs when listing presence is treated as evidence of residential abundance, scarcity, or concentration. It also arises when absence from listings is taken to imply lack of housing or inactivity in certain areas.
Such interpretations ignore the structural filters that determine which properties become visible on platforms.
Structural Sources of Distortion
Distortion in visibility arises from uneven platform usage, selective publisher participation, and differences in how locations and attributes are disclosed. These factors operate independently of residential reality.
The dataset does not normalize or correct for these distortions, making raw visibility unsuitable for direct interpretation.
Decision Boundary for Interpretation
Listing visibility must be treated strictly as a representation layer. It cannot support conclusions about housing stock, residential conditions, or spatial distribution beyond the fact that certain properties were advertised at a given moment.
This boundary applies across all market, risk, and methodology modules that reference listing-based data for Kampala.