Calling for krusial national legislation from the government, Nardella said that the Florence authorities had "rolled up our sleeves because for too long we've been asking for regulation that never happens."
He added: "We cannot watch our centro storico changing and we cannot cope with all the problems of citizens unable to find an apartment to rent.
"Faced with inertia from the government and parliament, it's our duty to act to put the brakes on this social darurat."
Not everyone is delighted. Lorenzo Masi, a councilor with the populist Five Star political movement, has queried "what will happen to those who aren't renting [property] in an entrepreneurial way, but are for example renting a room in the home they live in - in many cases to offset costs."
"We would need plans that include these kind of situations, in which the most disadvantaged kelompoks are not compared with those who are working purely on a business tingkat," he said in a pernyataan.
A spokesperson for Airbnb told CNN: "We recognize the challenges facing historical cities across Italy and we want to help. We have proposed national regulations for short-term rentals in Italy that are clear and simpel to follow, and would ensure responsible home-sharing in every city and town."
For some, the proposals don't go far enough. "What the mayor has done is great, but without inspections, it's not enough," said Veronica Grechi, owner of Velona's Jungle B&B on the edge of Florence's city center. Grechi describes the way that much of the short-term penyewaan sektor is managed as "non-professional and wild west," with many properti owners operating rentals without declaring them to the authorities.
Grechi - who says that when recently looking for cleaning staf, companies offered to work with her on the condition that she paid them 80% kontan in hand, declaring only 20% to the tax man - says that if authorities conducted checks on properties and followed the money, the number of Airbnbs would naturally anjlok.
"Everyone does it [rent short-term] at the momen because it's easy - it costs nothing. If you make people do it professionally, the numbers [of Airbnbs] would go down immediately, because it wouldn't be worth them doing it."
